Finally .... Grady was able to get close enough to sneak in a little lick!  Aiden & Grady had to find their way with each other & eventually became friends.  We had a great visit with Jamie & Aiden .... went to Island View Beach, visited FirBank farm and Sea Cider cidery on the Saanich Peninsula, Aiden went with me to the rec. centre every day and while I toiled away in the gym he happily coloured Spiderman pictures in daycare.  I took Aiden swimming one day and we enjoyed the wave pool - Grandma's arms sure ached the next day!  Jamie visited with friends on a few evenings while Grandma & Grandpa had Aiden all to ourselves.  Jamie & Aiden left yesterday on the 7:00 a.m. ferry.  I still have a lump in my throat.  I try to remind myself not to cry because it's over, but to be happy that it happened.  Tough though.

View from Allison's & Jake's kitchen window .... beautiful isn't it? They have a great big family home; lots of renovations to do, but Jake is certainly capable (& young enough!) to tackle them. Had a really nice visit. My worries about whether Grady would have difficulty interacting with the grandkids

proved to be nothing to worry about. He had more difficulty with accepting Luna in the same house! All in all it was wonderful to be there. Spent a lot of time with Coral; took her to see The Lemux which she loved & to London Drugs for a treat & we walked the dogs together every day .... sigh! I just loved it :-)

Can't sleep for some reason. Worked today from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and was standing for most of that. Doing filing & was really tired by the time I got home & walked Grady. It was raining so he didn't get a very long walk unfortunately. Wayne & I went out for dinner to HoJo which is close = convenience & we know the menu. I work again on Wed. of next week and then Allison & kids will be in Victoria :-) Spring break starts that week and then Wayne and I will travel to Squamish to visit @ Allison's home for a few days. We will be seeing their new home for the first time. I was last in Squamish mid-Dec. when I helped them clean the townhouse for their anticipated renters. That was sure a busy time. I am so looking forward to Spring & we move our clocks forward tomorrow so that will feel so much better!

A Visit with Aiden February 2012

Wonderful visit with Jamie, Shelly & Aiden. Unfortunately, Shelly had to work during the week we were there, but we saw her in the evenings & had a good visit with her too. Jamie took us to see Wally & Slavenka who had a great lunch ready for us. He also obtained 2 tickets to an Oilers' game for him & his Dad which they thoroughly enjoyed together. Marilee & Dave drove up from Calgary and Jamie bbq'd the most wonderful pork spareribs .... mmmm good! So love my baby sister. The time flew by. I miss my son. I miss hearing his voice. I miss him dropping by - sometimes just to say "hi". However, when we are together we need to treasure the moments & we surely do.

Here is the new addition to our home .... introducing "Grady". When this picture was taken Grady had just arrived in our home. He was just a little over 2.5 yrs. and is a maltese-shiu tsu. Soon (2 mos.) after we had Riley put to sleep I managed (somehow) to convince Wayne to take a look at a dog I found a picture of on the "Victoria Adoptables" website. Seeing this little dog, who the previous owner had named "Wally", and then taking him on a little walk .... well, I was smitten. We were allowed to take him home on a 2 week trial period and never once, or since (Sept. 13, 2012) have we ever thought of taking him back. He is wonderful and totally in love with me. He likes Wayne well enough, is excited when Wayne comes in after being away during the day, etc., but he follows me everywhere & gets anxious if he can't find me when searching. Some things are just meant to be in a person's life and, without question, Grady and I were meant to go through this life together.

Great visit in December 2011 with the little Humphrey family who bought a new home and I went to Squamish to help with whatever I could. So, I hung out with my grandkids every opportunity I could and was able to see Coral's skating lesson, swimming lesson and, of course, like every time Grandma visits, Cameron and Dylan got haircuts! Won't be going back to Squamish until March when Wayne and I will make a visit. Miss being around them as soon as I say "goodbye".

Winter 2012

Can't believe that it has been so long since I posted! I on retired Oct. 29, 2010. I made up my mind and then decided on the date and once I did that the next step was to tell my employer which I did in April of 2010. Surprisingly (well at least it surprised me) once I had decided on the actual date I just set the date in my sights & that was that. I did not want a "party" and as it turned out a work colleague decided to quit & take another job outside of the organization. We had worked together for 22 years. She didn't want a party either, but we both agreed to the suggestion that we share in a farewell which was held in our Board Room with colleagues, family & politicians we had both served for those many years. Wayne, Marilee, Jamie & Aiden, Allison & Coral were able to be there with me & we had a "girls only" get together afterwards @ a local pub which I loved. I didn't have to ease into retirement. It felt like one day I was an employee and the next day I was released to live my life in whatever way I saw fit to do so AND YES IT FELT WONDERFUL :-)