Still at school....So just a quick note...

Whew~been so busy with tests, tests and more tests..I feel like a lab rat. But I'm doing fine as far as marks go. I just got my mid-term marks and my average was 90%. Not bad for an old lady when there's so much memory work. I have thought and thought about the kind of counseling I'll be doing. I started out wanting to counsel abusive men, and I still may do that, but I'm leaning more on Christian counseling at a church. Well, it could all change again before I'm done, so I'll keep you posted on that.
Holly is doing fine, trying to finish up her high school and then off to pastor's college. Hey, maybe she'd let me be a counselor at her church. Oh boy, mayhem....I can see it now.
Other than that, there is so much not new around here right now. Except, once I get my degree, we will be moving into the city, (Toronto) to be closer to my wonderful mommy-in-law. And work will be better there as well. Sometime in the next few years we will be moving back to the Ottawa area as I miss it so much. I absolutely hate where I live now and I've been here for nearly 6 years and have never warmed up to it.
Holly has been learning to speak, read and write Hebrew. It's hilarious to hear her. She tells me that she is actually dreaming in Hebrew at this point, which is really good. It's funny when I go past her room and she has a Hebrew radio station on...Shalom, you crazy kid!! Actually, she will need it for pastor college and this will put her ahead of the others as it is usually one of the courses you take in order to study the bible.
All the animals are doing well. Lumpy is as fat as ever and the birds are still evil, but we love them. Poppy has 6 eggs on the go right now, but she's not sitting on them much. Maybe she's fed up! Oh well, who has the time for 6 babies right now? Not me, if I can help it. And poor Bunny has lost 2 or 3 teeth in the last few months or so. I think she's older than we think.
Anyway, consider yourselves up to date on my boring life. So sorry I'm posting so little lately. Maybe once I get a job, I'll be able to post all day, every day...lol.
NAI hubby is doing just fine. He's busy at work and managing just fine without me, which is great. I love that about him....I think.
By the way, I seem to have lost my Title Header and no matter what I do, I can't get it back. Any suggestions??? This has been a problem for months and it's driving me crazy. Oh, well.
By the way, I'll be posting new pics of the grandbabies in the next few days. You won't believe how they've grown. You'll find them on my photo/video blog.
Take care

A Blast From the Past!

First, I will henceforth be writing any further blogs in bold, as it makes it easier for me to see...and I just discovered the button...duh.
Well, I had an interesting day. Ashley called, and as some of you may know, she is taking the Social Worker Program at college. She is actually in her last semester. She is my personal hero, as she does school with tons of homework, takes care of 3 kids under 5 years old, and is a real go getter. And to his credit, her hubby, Rob, is a terrific father and watches the kids while she's at school, working around her hours as much as possible. They are very plugged in to their kids. Did I mention that Ariel has started school? She absolutely loves it and the kids and teachers love her back. She's a big girl now, and is saving all her pictures she paints at school for nanny to frame. I'm telling you, she's brilliant!!
Anyway, I often help Ashley out a bit with her homework. Today I wrote an essay on post-traumatic stress disorder for her, and e-mailed it to her. She needed a patients perspective on it for her big project and I fit the bill. (Come on, you guys knew I was a freak when you met me...!)
I went into my e-mails and found a note from an old friend, which really made my day. We go back a long way, Bambi and I. (Of course Bambi isn't her real name...do I look like Walt Disney to you?? Actually, in profile I do, mustache and all...sigh!) We've been through a great deal together, including my divorce from Fang and me meeting my new and improved hubby. We lost touch a few years ago. I didn't realize how much I'd missed her until I saw her e-mail. So, I grabbed the phone and gave her a call...it was like we never paused...just picked up where we left off, more or less. She's as crazy as I am, and we have spent a lot of time together laughing when we should have been crying and crying when we probably should have been laughing. We really truly 'get' each other and that means a lot. Both our lives have changed a lot since we last spoke and we have a lot of catching up to do. Hubby and I will go visit her on Sunday. That will be fun.
Did I mention to you all that Hubby quit smoking on New Year's Eve? He's doing great! I'm so proud of him.
That's all for now, kids.
Take care
Tory

I'm Finally Back...thanks for your patience!!

Hi everyone. So sorry I was gone for so long. At the last minute I decided to stay at the 'love nest' on my own for a few days. I kind of enjoyed being on my own for a change but that quickly got old and I missed my hubby being there. It's almost too quiet when you're by yourself. Sigh...the love nest just isn't the same without my love being there with me.
I put some garbage outside to put in the shed and a little while later I noticed something moving outside on the lawn. It was a gopher and he kept standing up and sniffing in the direction of the garbage. 'Oh no you don't'. He was so cute and must have stayed in the yard for a full 15 minutes, giving me time to have a good look at him. We also have some little red squirrels that are so adorable. I broke up some white bread and threw it around the deck for them. A little while later I heard a knock on the door and one of the squirrels was standing there with the bread in his hand. He demanded that from now on I need to put out multigrain bread, as he is trying to watch his figure. Fine. Ungrateful..so and so...
Hubby finally showed up on Sunday and I was so happy to see him. Let's face it, gophers are not generally known for their conversational skills. They tend to only want to talk about themselves. It gets tiresome.
We piled into the car and went for dinner in a nearby town. We had a great time, and dinner was excellent.
I was especially grateful that Hubby was there that night as a huge storm came up, the most severe storm I had ever witnessed since I was 4 years old and was in a hurricane. It was very close to tornado speed winds. There was a clap of thunder so loud that it shook the whole trailer. I knew something close had been hit. We were watching it out of the patio door and I noticed that the tree directly in front of the deck, which is at least 200 ft. tall, was swaying back and forth! No, not the branches, the actual trunk! If it fell, it could possibly crush our trailer. We decided to get into the car and head out to the front of the park where there weren't as many trees. We sat at the front for awhile and it seemed to be easing off, but on the drive back, the wind picked up again and it began to hail. I was afraid that it would come through the windshield! While driving, we found the source of the big crack of lightening. A huge tree had been hit a street behind our trailer and was laying on the ground. It took a long time for the wind to settle down enough for us to go back in the trailer. I was so grateful Hubby was there and I didn't have to go through that alone. I don't know what I would have done as the trailer park is almost empty on a Sunday night.
I see that Holly hi-jacked my blog while I was away. Actually, I told her to let you all know that I was staying for the week. Thank you for your patience...you know..the Darren Hayes pix! She's crazy about him and it was a thrill for her to see him in concert.
Thanks for all of your comments while I was gone. Abbagirl, thanks for the tag and I will work on it this afternoon.
Take care all and I'm glad to be back.

This One's For You Mitchgib!

I love it so much when you guys leave me comments. I guess as bloggers, that's what we live for. Knowing that someone took time out of their day to read our ramblings and then took more time to write a comment, well, let's just say it makes our day, doesn't it?

Yesterday mitchgib asked about the 'love nest'. I would be happy to tell you all about it as it is my 'special' place. We live in a city just outside of Toronto. As a matter of fact, I can see the CN Tower outside my window. It would take us maybe 15 - 20 minutes to get there. I was used to living in the country for 20 years and never thought I'd ever move to a city again. But after I left Fang, I had to move to the city as I didn't drive...well, if you've read my blog you know they just won't let me drive. Anyway, when I met my new and improved hubby about 5 years ago, he owned a trailer up north, about 1 and 1/2 hours drive away. It's in a wonderful trailer park practically in the middle of nowhere. When we were dating, we would go there often and it was like a piece of heaven to me. I hate living in the city and still can't get used to it. I'm absolutely OCD about the noises, the smells, the pollution and too many people around! So when hubby and I go up north, I can actually feel the stress melting from me on the drive up. It just so happens that the park is right across the street from a golf course, with a restaurant where we go for breakfast. The trailer park itself has a beautiful in ground pool and a club house where every Saturday night one of the people at the park dj's a dance, which is a lot of fun. They provide snacks and you bring your own bottle. The park itself is a co-op and is run by the members themselves. They also have bingo night and coffee time. Once a year the members have a big garage sale which is great and mostly everyone participates. A lot of the people who are in the park have been there for like 20 or 30 years! Hubby knows most of the people there because he's been there over 20 years himself. Each member owns the property their trailer is on.

Now for our trailer itself. Most times when you think of a trailer, you think small, cramped and tacky. Some of the trailers at our park are gorgeous. Big and beautiful. Our trailer is nice too. Just the right size. It has two good sized bedrooms and a full bathroom with tub. The kitchen and the dining room and living room are one big room. Enough counter space to cook anything, full size fridge and stove. And, my favorite feature...air conditioning! It's light and airy with lots of windows. A very cheerful atmosphere. When I wake in the morning to the sounds of the of all the beautiful birds I could cry. I miss this type of thing so much. I have a raccoon that I leave an egg for on the deck in front of the patio doors and I watch as he comes for it. Sometimes I look out and see bunnies sitting in the yard! I have actually been known to wake up hubby at 6 in the morning to look at an unusual bird! He doesn't care for some reason, but he always humours me, and never gets mad.

And to top it all off, we're a stone's throw from the beach, and great fishing.

So I hope you get a picture of my little peace of heaven on earth. It's all about the quiet, the peace I get from being surrounded by nature and spending some good quality time with my favorite hubby.

So, Michelle, I hope you get a place like this of your own. It makes life just that much better.