Another Friday! They seem to come around so much faster since I retired. 🤔 I got up to a chilly +6 degrees celsius this morning but we are looking at another Saskatchewan scorcher by mid afternoon.
Molly will be back chilling in the air conditioning. While the passing squirrels contemplate a dip in the pool.
Down east in Toronto, Genie has been out and about again. This time she has been checking out the street art. As always, she took the time to take some photos and sent them along to be shared.
Screams motorcycle to me…I love this sculpture!Every street should have one.
Genie has found some interesting streets to walk in her travels across Canada this summer. I could see Dan and I wandering in her footsteps some day. Who knows where life will take us when Dan joins me in retirement?
That is it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🤗
The first day of September and it seems the only thing left of summer are the mosquitoes, flies, and wasps. That’s not quite accurate. It is pretty warm and humid for a few more days here. Regardless, the kids are all heading back to school today, so the big box retailers will be hustling to get their Christmas displays out. I know time goes by faster than ever these days, but it just seems wrong to have Santa trying to swat mosquitoes in Saskatchewan.
Meanwhile, back in Toronto, Genie is still hard at it. We messaged yesterday while she was doing a VIP media event with the Media Director from North American Midway and and a media worker from CNE. They escorted a couple around the midway after they won an all inclusive day at the CNE. I didn’t quite understand why it took three people to escort two people, but I am pretty sure Genie was nominated to join the group because she was game to accompany the couple on any of the rides they chose.
Somehow she was also able to take photos as they made their way around the park and she sent me a number of them to share. I hope you enjoy. 😊
These first few were obviously views from the sky lift they were on.I have no idea why this one was all red and cloudy. 🙄Superfluous elephant shot for Grandma.She had to stash her phone for this one so it wouldn’t fly off when things got moving. Interesting… Parmesan cheese, paprika, and chilli powder. She said it was delicious!And guess what? More soup. 😂
I am sure happy that Genie is making the most of this adventure that she is on and that she has had so many opportunities to create priceless memories. It has been an amazing summer for her – and it continues until the 20th when she flies back home.
That is it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🤗
This morning I learned of one of my newest inspirations from my partners in my Volley fitness group. David Goggins is one of the world’s best endurance athletes. He is also a genius as a motivational speaker and as the author of countless thought provoking quotes.
These are a small sample of David Goggins quotes. These ones spoke to me personally in a big way so they are the ones that I chose to share.
“Nobody cares about yesterday. What have you done today to better yourself?” – David Goggins
“When you look in the mirror, that’s the one person you cannot lie to.” – David Goggins
“I don’t stop when I’m tired. I stop when I’m done.” – David Goggins
“Every day dosomething that makes you uncomfortable.” – David Goggins
“Success is based on your willingness to work your ass off no matter what obstacles are in your way.” – David Goggins
“I thought I’d solved a problem when really I was creating new ones by taking the path of least resistance.” – David Goggins
“Don’t limit expectations of yourself and settle for anything less than what you are truly capable of.” – David Goggins
“Most people who doubt you doubt you because they can never see themselves doing what you are trying to do.” – David Goggins
That is it for today. Take care and have a great day!💞🤗
It has been 28 weeks since I started living my ‘better’ life. I am pretty sure I haven’t peaked yet so I am still working up to my ‘best life’. ☺️
There isn’t a lot to report this week but I did drop a pound YAY and having added a dumbbell workout in the evening, I think I am ready to move up a size this week. Three pound weights it is! My next biggest size are five pounds so that might take a bit.
Since I started getting more active and eating better, I have been feeling progressively better. I am also trimming down and looking healthier. All of this is good, and it is nice that others are noticing, BUT… The most frequent ‘compliment’ I get – and have received often in my life is “You look too young – to be, to have, to do…whatever” or “You don’t look that old”.
Seriously! Why are people so surprised if anyone is healthy or in relatively good shape AT MY AGE. At any age? Why is age a factor to be judged by?
How am I supposed to look?
I even did an internet search for “women who are 67 years old”, just to see what a typical 67 year old woman was supposed to look like. There were dozens of photos of women and the only thing they had in common was that none of them looked ‘typical‘.
What’s more, each photo had a headline and none of those were what many people would consider typical for a sixty seven year old woman – one had just given birth (having conceived naturally), one had just been sentenced for a DUI hit and run, one had a black belt in martial arts and had taken down an intruder with her bare hands, and one had been found after wandering away from her home. If the photos and headlines had been separated and I had to guess which woman did what, I never would have guessed any of them.
There are so many memes and posts around about seniors – and so many of them normalize negative aspects of aging. This is one I received recently…
I get this is supposed to be funny, but why?Why do we portray ourselves like this at any age?
And this gem…
Apparently 75 is our expiration date 🤣🤣🤣
I don’t know anyone who is seventy five. I do have a sister who is seventy eight. She is not sitting around worrying about whether she ever “embraced the sun on the beach” (Nor did she ever sit around thinking about whether her thighs jiggled 😂😂😂 – although I doubt that her thighs ever jiggled). At seventy eight, she is still running circles around me, living her life, taking care of her home, taking care of the people she loves, and no doubt anyone else who needs her. She is driving herself and her loved ones anywhere they need to be on any given day. And she is as perfect now as she ever was.
What’s more – I know any number of people even older than my sister who are happy, healthy, strong, capable, intelligent and perfect who are living life to the fullest. I have met many of them here on WordPress. Age defines nothing.
I have no desire to look or be younger. I have no desire to live indefinitely. I just want to live the best life that I can, regardless of my age. That is why I make health and fitness a priority – physically, mentally, and emotionally. Quality of life matters – at any age. I realized that 28 weeks ago and I am committed to that 28 weeks in.
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🤗
It has been on again, off again, rain for the past couple of days. Today it is definitely ON AGAIN.
Fortunately, it held off until Molly and I had a nice long walk earlier this morning.
After which, I exchanged a few messages with Genie and recieved a few new photos.
Her fiance Alec got his newest (and first ever) tattoo, he went allout.Pretty sizeable for a first tattoo experience! 😳
Then she shared photos of some pretty interesting sidewalk art.
This toy looks familiar…As does this one!
And she is eating. It’s good that she is getting the calories she needs, but now I want ice cream. 🍧😧
And my favourite for the week! Grandpa’s little ladybug is still playing with ladybugs. She was very excited that it landed on her cheek and then flew into her hand.Genie loved ladybugs so much when she was a tot, that when she was nine years old, Dan got a tattoo of a ladybug on his shoulder. He wanted her to know that no matter how big she got, he would always havea shoulder readyfor her if she ever needed it. Genie always said that as soon as she was old enough, she would get one on her shoulder for Grandpa. Due to the pandemic, there was no getting her tattoo on her sixteenth birthday so she was pretty excited when the parlours reopened a few months later and she could come over to show Grandpa that they finally had matching ladybugs. 🐞🐞
Other than that, work has been going well. She was pleased that she had the opportunity to help a few hearing impaired clients with her limited sign language skills and is anxious to work on building on that. She is off to London, Ontario on Labour Day. AND…Three more Sunday check-ins before she is home! I can’t believe how this time for her has flown by.
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞🌧️
Yay it is Friday. Not that it matters what day of the week it is for me because I am one of those fortunate souls who is retired! And loving it. 🤗
I can celebrate that this has been a pretty good week for me. I don’t know if it is the walking I have been doing, or going back to dancing, or the weather but I have been feeling really well these past few days – exceptionally well. I will always have COPD and asthma, and bronchiectasis, and genetic collagen issues but being more active for these past few months and eating healthier is obviously paying off in lung function, muscle toning, and general wellbeing.
This has been a good week for (and with) Molly, too. She has been walking very nicely. Today, we even cut through a corner of Regent Park and met up with another young dog and she was very well behaved. Mostly she has been pretty good at home as well. 👍
Molly 💞
I haven’t spoken to Genie for a couple of days, but I assume she is gearing up for a few busy days working Guest Services at the CNE this weekend. She has been doing such work since she turned fifteen. She worked as a front-end supervisor at one of our biggest and busiest big box grocery stores for three years (including the worst of the pandemic). Then she moved to a pool company where she worked front counter sales and did customer water samples. Both jobs, she did pretty much full time while also taking full time classes. It is funny that no matter where she works, how busy it is, or how difficult customers can be ( especially during a pandemic 🤨), what excites Genie are the customers who are exceptionally kind and considerate and caring. Every time I talk to her this summer, she has a story about someone who made her day. It is so nice to hear about such people, especially when she is on her own, across the country from everyone she knows. ☺️
Genie also seems to find her way to any place where she can wander around making animal friends. These are just a few that she met this week.
Not a snake lover but I love this guy’s attitude. 😂Cocky bastard! 🤣🤣🤣Sheep shot for MollyBit of a poser 🙄He’s so cute! 💞
That is it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞
Another beautiful sunny day today. This morning it was quite cool, which worked well for my walk with Molly. We made about 4.5 km (almost 3 miles) and she was well behaved for the distance so that was pleasant – and a bit unexpected as she was acting up before we headed out. Anyway, we had a good walk, came home and I did my dance workout, had a cold shower, got dressed up and went out for lunch with Dan, AND stopped to do some shopping on the way home.
I was going to share more of Genie’s photos from the other day but we chatted again last evening and she sent me some new ones, so will jump to these and then jump back later when she starts to slow down.
Genie had a few hours off yesterday morning so she did what any typical eighteen year old would do if they found themself in Toronto with time on their hands. That’s right – she jumped on the nearest public transport and headed off to Bloor Street West on a mission to find a bookstore and a bowl of home made soup. Okay, maybe she is not quite typical. 😂
Bloor Street West did not disappoint. She found the BMV bookstore and the anatomy book she was looking for, which she needs for her arts/drawing studies. Then she found a new restaurant, which may or may not be called Wild, and scored a bowl of potato leek soup and a London Fog. They were both sooooo good!
And she took photos….
I am not sure where the artwork fit into her day but I am thinking there was artwork hanging on the back wall of the restaurant.
Genie thoroughly enjoyed her outing. If anyone is heading to Toronto, I have to agree that Bloor Street seems very pretty. If you are looking for books or cats, artwork or homemade soup, this could definitely be an area worth checking out.
That is it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🤗
Our weather is overcast today and a few degrees cooler than it has been. Other than the adorable GoldenDoodle that Molly got to play with on our walk this morning, our neighbourhood seems to be just a little gloomy.
Fortunately, our Genie is out and about taking in the scenes in Toronto with her new iphone 13 Pro Max. I am not sure how anyone gets that excited about using any new piece of technology, but I am grateful that she sent me plenty of new photos to share.
Today I decided to focus on a few of her nature shots….
I think she is doing great with her new phone but these kids were born into technology. I remember Genie sitting on my knee playing games on our computer, when she was too small to reach the top of the desk on her own. I also remember the day my boss bought me my very first calculator. 🤣
Anyway, that’s it for today. Take care and have a good day! 💞🤗
Twenty seven weeks in and I am still working it, getting fit and staying healthy. Things were getting a bit ‘routine’ for a bit, but with some encouragement, support, and solid advice from my Volly workout friends I am back on track. I have gone from my Zumba routines back to my freestyle dancing after my morning walk and I am doing some meditating and a bit of work with light weights and it is going good. Between that and the beet juice, sauerkraut, and cold showers, I am feeling pretty good these days.
Molly and I had a pretty good walk this morning. (Molly was good but I did accidentally swallow a bug) We are averaging about 2.5 k (1.5 miles) which isn’t where I would like to be, but it is what Molly can handle right now. In a few weeks, our temps will be cooler, the mosquitoes will hopefully be gone, and Molly will be a little more mature. And 2.5k is a LOT further than I would be going if I had never taken that first step on this journey back in February. I think about that quite a bit lately. I am so grateful to my old flabby, tired, sickly self that made the effort to get up and get moving. 💗
I have a few photos that I took, to share today…
I loved the sky when Molly and I set out this morning. It was so steel grey and silver! My photo doesn’t do it justice.I picked a bowl of little salad tomatoes when we got home. They taste so amazing!There are some Hungarian hot peppers ready to pick.We still have a few petunias that have survived Molly and Dan cleaned the pond (again) this weekend. 💞My special red petunias are not as dark as they were in the spring but they still look nice with those little white flowers.Official annual tree shot. It is getting harder to get a somewhat full shot of it. 😯Obligatory dog shot. 🙄Jalapenos
That is it for today. Take care and have a great day!
It is Sunday morning and a beautiful day to be alive! Being a Sunday, it is a rest from my more strenuous activities, but Molly and I began the day with another good walk. We only had one encounter, with a biker passing through the neighbourhood, but he did stop for a chat and the opportunity to give Molly a good petting – without being jumped on! 👍 We made 2.5 km before Molly was ready to get back home, take a splash in her pool, have a Sunday snack, and an extended nap.
Ready to relax…
Being Sunday, it was time for another check-in by our Genie. She is settled back into her bunk and behind her Guest Services desk at the CNE (sporting a new haircut for the occasion). She is enjoying working with her three local co-workers, who all seem to be quite a bit her senior. I think she is ready for a bit of homey-ness parenting/grandparenting type company. Her first impressions of Toronto, the CNE, and her immediate surroundings? HUGE !
She hasn’t had time to take many photos yet but she did manage to pass on a few for me to share.
They made it!Driving through the cityHer ‘art’ attack for the day.
I am pretty sure these next three photos were taken for her brother Rory. This is one massive gaming room.
Fireworks over the midwayI’m not sure if she was sending proof that she IS eating or just that she really misses her kitchen and home cooking.
That is all I have for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞
Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie 