Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Wordless Wednesday–RIP Mom

Well almost… My mother died suddenly March 6 2011, my wonderful husband said some wonderful words about her at the funeral. Here is what he said:

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Family and friends welcome, my name is Dean Anderson; I am Debbie’s son-in-law, husband to Debbe’s only daughter Holly. I am here today to share some words in memory of Debbe.

As some of you may know, Holly and I lived with Debbe for a year and a half. In that time I got to learn many of her eccentric qualities. She was a pack rat, with many different collections; she loved her elephants, as they never forgot. She also loved tea pots, butterflies’, lighthouses, and bajangles, which are sparkly hanging things. No matter how many collections she had she was always looking for a deal, buying her clothes at Value Village and her knickknacks at the dollar store.

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Debbe absorbed all information, no matter how unimportant or useless. I remember Mike telling her he liked Black Tower wine, and from then on that was all she bought when he was coming home, even though it rarely got drank. I remember playing the Video Game Fallout 3, where after nuclear war bottle caps were the currency of the world, upon hearing this Debbe then proceeded to collect bottle caps in case of nuclear war.

When looking at pictures of Debbe, you can always pick her out. Her face never changed, just her hair style, and boy did she have a lot of hair styles. Debbe was a kind, good hearted person, who always had a smile on her face. She had a love for all things living. I’ve heard of her many pets, most of which have been named from The Lord of the Rings; Strider, Hobbit, and Pippen just to name a few. This has led Holly and me to name our pets after The Chronicles of Narnia.

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Debbe was a free spirit, always speaking her mind and believed enjoying life to its fullest, whether it be partying with friends and family, or sitting on the deck in the sun. Debbe was very predictable, I remember her calling her father everyday at 9:00a, watching her “Silly Show” (Days of our Lives) at 2:00, and getting a phone call from Mike at 7:00pm.

I met Debbe before I met Mike, as he was in Ontario. Even before I met Mike, I knew that Debbe loved him and they must have shared a special bond living apart the way they did. I remember Debbe saying every time she visited him it was like a honeymoon.

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Debbe and her sister Heather, although 9 years apart, where the best of sisters and became the best of friends, Debbe always referred to visiting Heather as travelling half way across the world, but was always excited to see her, her family, and her dogs. Debbe’s only Niece, Jennifer held a special place in her heart, and referring to herself as Aunt Da-Bee. Debbe was also very grateful for her Brother-in-law Kent, who would help out whenever asked.

 

I met only a handful Debbe’s Friends while living with her; Holly and I spent a night by the fire pit with her and Dar, had Brunch with Sue and Glenn after my wedding, and she went out often with her skating friend Lynda.

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I remember Debbe Hosting Holly’s Bridal Shower with no running water, and the plumber digging a hole in the front yard, she still had a smile on her face and was calm, cool and collected about the whole situation, even though Holly was freaking out. I remember Debbe’s showing me her Horses Ass trophy, which she received for her Darts league placing last through the whole season, an accomplishment which she laughed about and was proud of.

When not living with Debbe every visit she would push food on me, whether it be, a baked good, or a full on meal. Debbe had little knowledge of the computer, so little that I received a phone call asking how to turn off the computer, I had to explain how to use the mouse to go to the lower left corner, click the windows symbol, move the mouse to the right until it is on shut down.

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Debbe graduated from Vocational School with papers in Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Management. When we went to my orientation with NSCC, we found her yearbook and she received a sticker stating she was an Alumni, she also was able to tell me which locker was hers and which classrooms she was often in. While Debbe was in school she had travelled to Banff, Alberta and worked at Banff Springs Hotel, an experience she talked of often.

Debbe also chaperoned a trip to Ottawa and Toronto with Holly’s Pathfinder troop. It was on this trip where she fell in love with Niagara Falls. Returning there with Mike for a short getaway, where they won at the casino.

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Debbe worked at Sobeys as a cashier for many years, due to that she had developed many relationships, leading her to go to Sobeys every 2 or 3 days just to socialize; she often ended up buying discounted food which she never ate.

Debbe Loved a lot of things, her gardens among the most important, and her greatest garden was the one she cultivated between family and friends. Throughout the years she has weeded out the bad and kept the good, nurturing and growing each of us in our own way. I would like everyone to take a second and look around, this is “Debbe`s Garden”.

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I would like to finish with reading this poem thanking Debbe for her greatest gift to me.

When you gave birth to your child

I wonder what you thought

As tears flowed down in joy that day

For the treasure God had wrought

As you looked into your baby’s eyes

And held her tiny hand

Did you know how thankful I would be

For the girl you made a woman

No girl grows into such a woman

Without a mother’s care

Teaching her and loving her

And always being there

And now I look into the eyes

Of the daughter you raised to be

A woman who stands above the crowd

And it`s your eyes that I see

Those steely eyes of strength and hope

And of character so rare

The eyes of love and faithfulness

And wisdom that you shared

I want to take this moment

And thank you for the one

That you shared, and let me love

Your daughter, Thank you Mother In-law

 

Miss you Mommy RIP

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Protein

OMG the pain I was in from my first training session was brutal. So after speaking to my trainer today at my second session he suggested I take a protein supplement to help re-build my muscles.

So the real question is what supplement to use? Just looking at places like Costco or GNC there are many to choose from. I want something that has about 30g of protein in it. Do I go with bars or a powder to mix?

The best thing about all this for me is that fact that I am really paying attention to things now. I want to exercise and when I was with my trainer I did everything he said. I am sure I will be in alot of pain tomorrow but when I left the gym today I felt good and my stressed out mood I was in when I entered the gym was gone.

One thing I am not doing great at is eating. I am trying to be good and trying to watch what is going into my body but I find it so hard. I want to eat well and I want to stay away from the junk food but I just find my body going and buying food without even realizing it until its in my body.

Wow that ended up being alot of random information, what it boils down to is;

How do you get your daily Protein and do you increase your intake when working out?

Monday, March 28, 2011

Personal Growth

It is amazing what one event can do to change your life.

Dean and I joined the gym again, because I have decided I am worth it. I need have to take care of myself. However when we go to the gym and every time we have gone in the past I stick to the cardio machines. A new thing at my gym is to do a “personal health profile”. I signed up for this and I really learned alot about myself.

For example I am almost 40% body fat! That number hit home more than any number on any scale. I also learned that my heart rate is almost too high for my body. Also my knees and ankles are very weak and the trainer said she wouldn’t recommend I attempt any type of running until they get stronger.

So what this has all boiled down to was a major investment. The option of a personal trainer was very much encouraged. They would be able to make me comfortable with the other side of the gym (weights) and would walk me through the process and keep me dedicated. Now the major investment for me wasn’t time. I am ready to do this! It was money. Me and Dean really had to sit down and look at our situation and decide if it was worth it. For us it was. I need to get healthy and this is one of the best ways to do it.

So Saturday I had my first session. OMG. I am still sore today, 2 days later. I enjoyed my time there and I go back tomorrow for my second session. I am still not sure about my trainer but we will see how it goes and give him a shot.  Here are the before pictures and I am excited to see what happens in a month or 3 months!

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     Can’t wait to see what happens in a month! I am worth this and need to do it!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Life Changes

Wow it is really amazing how time goes by. I have been away for a while, and things in my life have changed. I am not really going to get into all of it in this post I’m going to divide them up as there is alot going on.

Overall I am where I was health wise before I started this whole adventure into blogging. Mentally I am wavering alot. Work life is pretty simple and my relationship with friends and family is pretty strong.

I don’t know what I want to accomplish from this blog right now. I also don’t know if I will keep posting or if I will let it go again. I just feel like I need to write publicly as well as privately to get my thoughts out and look for some more support.

The overall take home message right now is that I am doing well… better than I thought I would be given all the recent life changes I’ve experienced.

Holly