Why Do We Celebrate?

I want to wish everyone in Canada and the USA

 a very happy and safe holiday celebration this week! 

I am going to the lake for two days of relaxing and then for Canada Day, this Wednesday, I will be at work from noon to 8 pm. We are having a little Canada Day party in the afternoon. Providing programs and celebrations at a personal care home is extremely challenging right now during this time of quarantine, social distancing, and so many other changes and worries. We are trying to gather people in very small groups, and then we try and position people with some distance between them.

Previously our Canada Day Parties at the personal care home have been huge outdoor events for residents and families complete with a hired musician, food, and decorations and lots of FUN. We always had a huge turnout. This year - What to do? We are setting up the patio and decorating in Red and White, but we are handling it like a mini “come and go” open house style event for the residents so that we only have a few people gathered at a time. It is a significant change and challenges our creativity.

This year our usual ways of celebrating have been so overwhelmingly disrupted.  We all want our social contacts to return to what it was before the pandemic, but in the meantime, we still want to share our lives with each other in some way. 

What I am impressed with is how resilient people have been. We are, indeed, finding new ways to celebrate and mark special events. My niece’s husband secretly contacted her Facebook friends and arranged for everyone to drive past and honk. He even surprised her by decorated their front yard.  She was thrilled with this new version of a birthday celebration.  I was pleased to discover that I could attend live-streamed service from my local church this past Easter from my own home.

We are communicating with others and having events on Skype, Zoom or Facetime. People from all over the world are participating in activities in new ways. Some times these changes have been very positive.

I love celebrations!

 I even love those days when unusual celebrations occur and sometimes I try and incorporate them into my home life and into my work life at the personal care home. Just to give one random example- Did you know that today, June 29th, is the International Day of the Tropics, which is sponsored by the United Nations? It is kind of the perfect day to buy a tropical plant, have a sweet beachy drink. Click to learn a bit about the fascinating biodiversity of the tropics. Why do we set up these differnt kinds of events and what is the point of it?

 

What do we celebrate?

We celebrate or commemorate the important markers of our lives. We celebrate our birthdays and commemorate the passing of loved ones. We remember anniversaries. There are special feelings of pride and acknowledgment of your capibilites on the day you get your driver’s licence on the day you graduate from school or when you get that longed-for job or be a winner in that major sports competition.

We celebrate the community acknowledgment of Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Mother’s Day, Fathers Day and many other days with big events or family gatherings.  We sometimes do a lot of consumer purchasing to get the right décor, clothing and treats and even cards to share. 

Each culture has its unique occasions and ways that they celebrate these days.  It might be hoisting a beer stein for Oktoberfest, or it might be watching a dragon dance for Chinese New Year.  These celebrations reflect the history, culture and beliefs and geography of a place and a people. It is a way that a group defines itself and binds itself together as a group. It is a way to remember the past traditions of their people and to teach its youth to be proud of their heritage and to continue it into the future.

These special days and moments are centred around universal human experiences. We all experience loss, sadness, fear, accomplishment, and we all look for love, peace, joy, and success. When we act to notice and mark these events and moments, we find meaning in what is happening to us. The sorrowful and the joyful can be shared and let us gain validation for what has happened and our feelings about it. As a group, we can offer each other solace in difficult times, and we can provide practical support too. We can even create a force for change by acknowledging the importance of what has happened.

Back to why do we celebrate?

We have fun and excitement, and we make special memories

What is life without a little joy and laughter? Human being’s health and well being are dependent on having a bit of fun and expressing ourselves.

We bond with others and become part of a broader community.

People need a community and a sense of culture and identity. We need to have the physical support of others, but we also need to have people to share in who we are and have things in common with us. 

We discover more about our own identity and learn what is important to us.

When you celebrate a rite of passage, it can change who you are and in a very real way how you see yourself.   My granddaughter just graduated from grade 6 this past week. She was a little kid and a member of her old school. When she returns to school next term, it will be a new school. It will no longer be the elementary school where she played during recess. It will be a junior high with new expectations, and there will be new social and extracurricular groups for her. Retirement is a big change too. We often describe ourselves by our jobs and our workplace. After you celebrate your retirement, you will redefine who you are and look at new possibilities.

It reflects our growth as people and our changing lives.

Our personal journey is marked by baby showers, births, baptisms, weddings, educational completion and all those other life events. Eventually, there will come the time of our death and commemoration of who we were and of our beliefs.  

Through our lives, we define what kind of person we are, we look at our roles in our communities and families, and where we belong and where we can make a difference. Our special days and events let us mark and confirm what these events mean to us as individuals and as a society.

Lets make this Summer's celebrations fun, thoughtful and meaningful despite the challenges we are facing in our world today.

Have a wonderful Canada Day and a fantastic Fourth of July.

Make some great memories!

What is on Your Spring Bucket List?

Do you make a list of things you want to do each season? How about planning what you want to do during the rest of you life?

 I am often thrilled to get the weeks meals planned but planning special activites for the next few months gives me joy and something to look forward to. It has been a long winter and I am so excited to enjoy warmer weather!


I do love making lists!

 I am always making lists. Groceries lists, "To Do Today" items, things I need to do for work events, things I want to get organized, empowering activities for good mental health, are just part of making everyday life work.   There is also my continual list of  "How I plan to lose weight and get fit," plus keeping track of banking, bills and medical needs.  There is even a need to keep track of family members events such as when we need to go to grandkids school and dance performances.

When I had the brain injury my memory took a significant downward dive and lists were the only thing that kept my mental memory wheel from spinning out of control in an endless loop. When in doubt I tried to remember to check the list. As I recovered and my memory improved, I found that I was busier than ever and therefore had a lot more to remember, so I still needed my lists!
The best lists for me are the ones where I plan out the fun activities or make steps toward goals that make me happy or feel proud of what I am accomplishing. A new season is indeed a fantastic time to think ahead to all you have to look forward to in the coming months.


What is a "Bucket List" anyway?

Yes! This is indeed a topic on the internet!  Basically, the idea is that most of us wish to enjoy meaningful experiences in our lifetimes and the point of a bucket list is to get out there and do it before we die or "kick the bucket." Some people think immediately of exotic destinations they long to see and activities that go with it. Others think of personal accomplishments such as learning a musical instrument or a different language or maybe becoming a public speaker or owning their own business. Others might have dreams of setting up a lasting legacy.. a building that lasts beyond them or setting up a scholarship for deserving students or perhaps ensuring that their grandchildren will have a nest egg to help them have the future that they will someday dream about.
A bucket list can be as big or small as you want it to be and it is flexible. You can add to it or remove items from it - after all, it is about you and your dreams! Your bucket list can help give you some direction and purpose. You can ask yourself what your purpose in life is or you can figure out what all you love in this world. It sets out a unique set of goals that are truly meaningful to you, and once you set that goal, you can start to organize how you might actually realize your dreams.

 You do have to remember that beyond the big goals and important moments are made up of smaller steps and special moments. Don't forget those big goals, but also don't forget to enjoy all the wonderful times and to celebrate the everyday pleasures and experiences.


I am looking forward to a few upcoming special events.

• In a few weeks, I will attend the Manitoba Girl Guide Conference in Brandon for a weekend.
• A remarkably large selection of Guiding activities are coming up this Spring in my district. They include everything from an adult award dinner we are planning to youth activities such as hosting a large Mother's Day Tea to a camp, a park clean-up plus so much more!
• We have our Scandinavian Choir Concert on May 13th.
• My husband and I are celebrating our 40th Anniversary this July, and we are planning on making it special.
• I expect to have an opportunity to visit with my oldest daughter who is currently living out of the province.
• In September I am hosting a week-long gathering of members from an online group I participate in called Christmas to the Max.
•  We are hoping to get some major work done at our cottage and get a chance to really enjoy it this year!

A lot of my planning is centred around these highlights, but I still need to plan on some just plain

FUN STUFF! Things that make good memories!

Linda's Spring List!

• Work on Painting watercolour pictures.

• Create a relaxing corner for me to relax and be creative

• Make  Easter cards with my new painting skill.

• Participate in a 30 day watercolour painting challnge.

• Celebrate Earth Day by starting some seeds.

• Go to the big garden center to buy the above seeds

• Buy a new Easter outfit.

• Bake a special bread for Easter

• Make some crafts about Butterflies for work and for home.

• Make some marmalade for the first time in decades.

• Have a picnic in the park.

• Go out for a special dinner and a movie.

• Read a good novel

• Create paper birds to hang in trees or making lanterns.

• Make art pieces out of natural items.

I love comments! 

Please tell us about your Spring projects or adventures!

Remembrance Day

by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Centerpieces Made at Art Group

We  had a guest come to the Stroke Recovery Association of Manitoba Art Group this week to show us how to make centerpieces.  Teresa, is the wife of a Stroke Survivor and she was happy to share her talents with us. Her family had a flower shop when she was a girl and she still really enjoys working with fresh greens. She came with everything needed fur us to make our own centerpieces. She spent many hours gathering supplies and preparing by wrapping picks onto pinecones and a few artificial berries to be used as picks in the arrangements we were creating. Trimming the greens and making bows were difficult for a few of our group members but we all supported each other and we all wound up with georgous arrangements.




You start with a small bowl and a piece of green Oasis floral foam and n you push a candle into the center. Next we trimmed some pieces of pine greenery into manageable pieces and pushed it into the Oasis all around the arrangement. Our top layer was pieces of cedar. The two kinds of greenery gave a  much  greater depth and variety of color and shape that was very attractive. Next we added the trims.. pinecones, artificial berries, mistletoe, holly and we made or were given ribbons on a wire that can be poked into the Oasis foam. A few people even added a cute artificial bird!








My daughter Emily came along to art this week to give a helping hand. Its always nice to have her with me. We made one centerpiece together, that we now have on our coffee table.  Teresa said we can expect the centerpieces to last all the way into January.

 I want to thank everyone who came out for this event. I especially want to thank Teresa but I also want to give a big thanks out to the volunteers and family members that assisted in making this workshop such a success

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We are Home

I had a very good time on our vacation in Hawaii, but I must admit I don't feel rested----- I feel exhausted. I need to take it easier when I go on these adventures.

I strained my back on our trip home but fortunately my back is already getting better. I think it was just helping with my carry-on luggage or perhaps it was just sitting in the plane that long but I am sure not ready to jump straight into Christmas decorating and shopping. Life does go on and I do need to get back to all of my regular activities.

I had a guitar lesson last Tuesday --- after 3 weeks without practice. Wow it was bad. (My teacher is the most patient person you ever met!) I guess two little ukulele lessons don't make up for weeks without touching the guitar. I have been getting better at the guitar and the difference it had made to my weak hand is phenomenal, but it does take me a long time to get the hang of any of the mental or physical skills involved in playing. It seems that I forget what I learn much faster than the amount of time it takes me to learn it in the first place. Practice, practice,  practice.  Maybe I should start practicing the ukulele too.


Winnipeggers usually wind up talking about the weather, so maybe that is a good fall back topic to ease me back into the blogging world. When we left it was pretty darn cool in Manitoba, but we didn't have any snow on the ground. We flew off to Hawaii and despite the fact that it was 80 degrees and warm at night I wanted to carry my jacket around like a security blanket. By the end of the two weeks I was just starting to trust the easy weather conditions and then it was time to come home.

People .. it is darn cold here and it is just going to get colder!

There isn't a lot of deep snow, but the sidewalks are icy and slippery and I need to have a metal spike gripper thing on the bottom of my cane to keep me from slipping. My winter parka from last year is having zipper problems.

I have switched from pretty glasses of fruity beverages decorated with pineapple slices and fresh flowers to mugs of tea or hot cocoa decorated with Santa and reindeer.

I must admit that I do sleep better curled up in my own bed under 2 fluffy quilts.

Ahhhh ----  Home Sweet Home.

Vacation Time

Bob and I,  along and our adult daughters, are going on a trip to Hawaii tomorrow morning! I am soooooo excited. We have been planning this for months and I can hardly believe the trip is finally here. The girls are only staying a few days for our tropical family vacation and then Bob and I will be staying for another week on our own little second honeymoon.

 Our daughter found us a good deal and booked us into a couple of different exciting locations!

I must admit that I have had a lot of anxiety about this trip and a lot of trouble getting organized, but now it is too late for me to do anything different. No more lists. No more shopping, no more planning how to pack or planning where to stay. All I can do is get on that plane.

I went back and forth about just how I was going to manage physically on this trip.  I have not been using the walker for months now, but I also have not been doing as much walking or challenging moving as I was a year ago. I am finding that my new knee brace is a really big help but I don't think it will be enough. The knee brace makes my knee feel a lot better, but when I wear it I find that my ankle gives out much faster for some reason.

My family will do all they can to help me but I still can't imagine how I will carry my luggage, stand in lines and still do all that I want to do and only hang on to my cane.  We decided that I am going to take the walker, and the knee brace, and the ankle brace and yes the cane!

I am ready for adventure!



clip art from http://www.rosiepiter.com/

Friday at a Hotel

This past weekend was the annual conference and training days for members of Manitoba's Girl Guides of Canada.  I debated a bit if I wanted to go, but what if I missed something exciting? I just needed to see what was going on with Guiding around our province, and it is also a great opportunity to meet up with Guiding friends that I do not see very often.

My 26 year old daughter was going too and we decided to rent a room and stay at the hotel. It gave me a place to rest, and leave our belongings. Running back and forth to the hotel would not have been a long distance and it sure would have been cheaper, but it would have added to the confusion and stress especially with neither of us driving. (I want my drivers license back so badly!) Besides the hotel has a pool and a hot tub! There was an exercise room but I never checked it out. I was tired enough from walking all around the hotel!


Alicia had 3 Rangers who wanted to attend the conference too, so we arranged to have 2 adjoining rooms. Rangers are  high school aged members who are involved in Girl Guides. I loved that the girls could attend and it was the right thing for them to be there, but being responsible for them definitely added to the exhaustion level of the weekend.

We checked in on Friday and then went to a banquet room that was set up with soft drinks, tea and coffee and snack foods. Our Guiding people set up several stations with information and displays and a variety of activities. The theme was "Thanks for the Memories".  You could make a picture frame, do a beaded key chain using letters that spell out the word memories and there was a card making station where you could use scrap booking supplies to make a nice card.
We had a wall where we to put up older photos (photocopies) about past Guiding friends or activities and it was a lot of fun to be seeing the pictures people brought to share. We have an award wining archive for Girl Guides of Manitoba and they shared some of their resources too.

There was a display about travel opportunities to the International Guiding Center in Mexico. I had a long talk with a couple of ladies who had been at "Our Cabana". I desperately want to go there and it is  high up on my "bucket list". They do one session where you can go to an amazing location where the Monarch Butterflies Migrate to in the winter and I think that would be so cool. There are monarchs coming out of their cocoons at our cottage and it would be so great to have an opportunity to follow them to their winter home. Getting to the location, according to these ladies is a pretty difficult hiking trail, but they assured me that it was not a long trail and there was lots of extra time so I could go slow. One more big reason for working hard at my physiotherapy! This prairie girl wants to go hiking uphill in Mexican rain forests! (grin) 

Many of my close Guiding friends are leaving in just a few days to go to Switzerland to tour and visit  the International Guiding Center there. If I had not had a stroke I am sure I would have been going with them. I have lost out on a lot of opportunities since I got sick and I have had to be content with hearing the stories of other travelers. It helps to plan for my own Guiding adventures in the coming years.

We also got to learn about the Scholarships and Bursaries available to youth members. I am hopefully that a couple of our girls will apply sometime in the future. There was a giant jar of candy where you could buy a ticket and guess the number of candies in the jar. They made a bit of money from the contest but mainly it was a way to draw attention to the scholarship opportunities we offer.

I will write about  Saturday and some of the interesting trainings and speakers in my next post.

I have a new Physiotherapist

I have had two meetings with my new physiotherapist.

The first one was a conversation about what I want to accomplish with Physiotherapy and about my medical history. I found myself telling my life history and saying that I want to be really fit for the first time in my life. Loft goals perhaps. I didn't manage to pull that off before I got ill.

Meeting number two was added in last week to do a physical assessment in particular the balance assessments. I got kind of upset the night before the appointment and hardly slept. Then I was being really tense during the assessment and I wonder how much that threw it all off. At any rate, I am pretty sure I scored worse than that last time with my former therapist. Maybe he is just a tougher marker. I absolutely know that I am functioning better than I was during the summer and I don't feel dizzy and nauseated anywhere near as often. I am going the right direction with recovery.

I do like the new PT so far and look forward to seeing what the new plan is in January. I also have some plans for getting more exercise in during the New Year.

Wish me luck!

Getting Ready for Christmas

I love holiday time but it can be tough.

There is a lot of fun this time of year, such as the Stroke Recovery Association Christmas Party. How could it be anything but great when you get to take Santa home with you at the end of the evening?

I do find that my expectation's for what I can do are often not realistic. I keep making holiday plans as if nothing has changed but then I keep running into walls and feeling let down.

Today is a good example. My daughter had a short recital this morning for her music students at a local mall. I am very proud of the kids. They put a hat out and played a little recital for family, friends and passersby and they are donating the money to the Children's Wish Foundation.
Next we had lunch with My daughter and her friend followed by a bit of shopping. We were not shopping for very long before my leg was going out from under me and I was exhausted. I insisted we go home and rest for a while before continuing with buying gifts. Well, we are still home and the stores are now closed. I just don't have much stamina anymore.

My kitchen counter has a container with all the dry ingredients for fruit cake all measured out. It has been sitting there for 5 days now. And I actually love fruitcake!

We had plans for decorating our Christmas tree tomorrow, but I have put it off to next weekend in the hopes that I will have more energy.

I am glad to report that I am getting better at asking for help. The first year after my stroke I was devastated that I couldn't do much for the holidays, but my family really pulled all the most important things together and we let go what wasn't needed. They really managed to organize themselves and share the holiday workload.

With all the negatives of something like a stroke there are some good things too. You do figure out what is really important to you and you learn to appreciate the support and love of the people in your life.