sisters – Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie

September 24th – Unstuck!

September 24, 2021September 24, 2021 by annemariedemyen, posted in A Piece of My Mind - September 2021

All of the ‘pieces of my mind’ are focussed on the good life today! Better things are starting to happen for us and ours. 💞 That is the way things are – for better or worse, things can change in the blink of an eye. Fortunately, our changes are for the better today. 😁

I talked to both of these little girls – Genie is happily settled in her new home and her new job. Brook is back in Regina and happy to announce that her up and coming little one is a GIRL! Our first great granddaughter is due on or about Genie’s birthday. (Because we need another Christmas Eve angel💞). So good to know both of these girls are happy and loving life. 😊

My surgeon called last night!!! Yay! Everything is good with my catscan and I am officially on his hernia surgery list. He has no idea when the surgery will actually happen as our hospitals are overwhelmed with Covid patients but that’s a story for tomorrow’s blog. Today I am just excited that all is good on the scan. 😁

And… Dan has been on days-off this week. He goes back to work Monday – at the pipe mill! As much as the steel plant was a fascinating experience for him, I will sleep better knowing he is back on the pipe side. 😴

I found this photo when I was looking for an early picture of Genie and Brook. It was taken during our visit to Ontario years ago. I think it was taken near Niagra Falls. So pretty I had to share. 💗

I found this one for you Lorraine! Lol – who needed a dishwasher back in the day? Sadly, I do not have any videos of our accompanying dance moves. 🤣

That’s it for today! Just a few positive, happy moments to share.

Take care and have a great day!💞

Day 13 – Siblings

June 13, 2021June 14, 2021 by annemariedemyen, posted in Accentuate the Positive - June 2021

It is the thirteenth day of my June ‘Accentuate the Positive’ challenge. Being a Sunday, I thought this would be a good day to spotlight my siblings.

Lorraine, Elaine, Peter, Jeanne and Denise

Denise was firstborn. She brought stubborn determination to the family, a serious talent for organization, and deep love and compassion for all things innocent or vulnerable – especially dogs, birds, and butterflies. 🤗

Jeanne came second. She brought beauty, elegance, and charm. To me, she has always been a cross between Jackie Onassis and a Disney princess. Over the years she has raised a family, bees, sheep, and a wayward duck. She has lost a husband, remarried, and survived cancer. She has done it all with genuine graciousness and without EVER having a bad hair day. 😐

Pete is my one and only brother. He has always been calm and quiet with a droll sense of humor thrown in. Being ten years older than me, we did not associate much as kids but I do have one memory of the two of us. I was in Grade one so Pete would have been in Grade 11. We had a huge blizzard. The next morning there was tons of snow around so my mother told Pete to walk me to school. He dragged me over or around every mountain of snow between our home and the town school only to find out that all classes had been cancelled for the day. Being brotherly, Pete dragged me all the way back home. I have a feeling Janice walked their daughters to school. 🤣

After Pete, my parents reverted to yet more girls. Elaine brought creative genius and talent to the family. She has done it all and she does it all incredibly well – cooking, baking, crocheting, needlepoint, crafting, plus extensive home renovations. To this day, Elaine tracks every family birthday, anniversary, and the like and sends us all beautiful handcrafted cards. 💝

Lorraine and I grew up more as twins than sisters. (I wasn’t the evil one 😇). Lorraine was, and remains, the firecracker of the family. I have never kept up with her physically or mentally – few if anyone could – but we have always made any time better together. 🥳 🍸

Teenie (Jeanne Christine) – Honorary Sister

Teenie is my sister Denise’s eldest child and only daughter. Since Teenie is only a couple of years younger than me, we have always had a sisterly relationship. When she was young, she would come for extended visits. I got to experience having a younger sibling and she got my favourite dress with the pink pinafore and my Campbell soup doll. She was the sweetest thing and unfortunately I was a bit too young to appreciate her at the time. We are good now!

Teenie and the Campbell doll she bought me a few years ago to replace the one that I always teased her about.

So that is it! Thirteen days down with seventeen to go!

Have a nice Sunday and I hope to see you tomorrow!

Kitchen News

December 5, 2020December 5, 2020 by annemariedemyen, posted in family

I was in the mood for doing some cooking this week. I started on Thursday by doing up a batch of Carmel Corn. (My late Mother’s recipe).

Yesterday morning I cooked a couple of pounds of bacon to have on hand for when we have salad. (It keeps the lettuce from sticking together 🙄)

Then yesterday I baked chocolate chip cookies with my sister, Lorraine. Since we are a few hundred miles apart, we couldn’t judge them on a taste test – but it doesn’t look like either of us burnt them, so we will call it a win-win 👍. Chances are the hundreds of miles between us saved our cookies. We baked a ton of buns together one time, burnt the lot, and tried to stash them in a garbage bag before our husbands came in for lunch. On the off chance that they did not notice that the house reeked of burnt buns, the bag fell over when they walked in the door and about two hundred blackened buns rolled out – one by one by one. Saddest friggin parade I have ever seen. 🤣🤣🤣

The only thing I am making today are croutons for our Caesar Salad tonight. Is there any reason why croutons have become scarce as hen’s teeth and rediculously expensive lately? Have the TP hoarders turned their attention to croutons? It seems odd. 🧐

Hope everyone is having a great December weekend💞 ❄️