Author: edebock

Starting them young

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At five and six years old, our Vancouver grandsons are already avid skiers; a passion passed on to them by their mom’s side of the family. We, on the other hand, look forward to the day when we can play a round of golf with them!

Today, Victoria Day here in Canada, we left our daughter-in-law at home preparing a delicious turkey dinner for later in the day and headed for a driving range with the boys.

Nate’s club of choice was a putter, but he did a pretty good job of whacking it off the tee.

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Oops! The ball’s still there!

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Sam got some tips from Daddy then made some great shots.

We finished off the morning with a fun round of mini golf.

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Unlike their Gram who didn’t take up the sport until I was about 40, these two are starting young!

A new look!

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Screen Shot 2016-03-18 at 11.07.24 PM 3It took me awhile to get used to the idea of wearing crop pants. For a long-legged gal who’s often had trouble finding pants that are long enough, purposely buying a pair that end at the ankle seemed counterintuitive!

I quickly fell in love with the comfortable feel of  Ricki’s Universal Sateen Crop with their 26 inch inseam though. They have just enough spandex to give them a bit of stretch.

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White is also a new look for me. In fact, I’ve never worn white pants before, but after seeing them on several of my favourite fashion bloggers, I decided that it was time to give the crisp, clean look a try. They would never have worked during my child rearing or school teaching days, but nowadays there’s a better chance that I might be able to keep them white!

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My top is several years old from Reitmans, the Alfred Sung braided mesh necklace is from Mark’s, and I’m wearing my new Zoey’ ghillie low wedges from Payless.

Now, what about you? What is your favourite pant length for summer?

Seaweed and crabs

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When I spoke to my five year old grandson, Nate, on Mother’s Day, he told me how excited he was about our upcoming visit. I asked him what he wanted to do while we were here and he immediately told me that we should go fishing together, so this afternoon we spent some time fishing and crabbing off West Vancouver’s Ambleside Pier.

No fish were caught, but the boys were happy to catch and release large globs of seaweed!

Nate

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Big brother, Sam

Crabbing yielded greater success with a couple of red rock crabs and one dungeness finding their way into the salmon baited trap. None were big enough to keep, so back into the water they went.

Our oldest son, Matt, was once one of my little “prairie chickens”, but he’s definitely become a coastal boy! I love visiting all our children and grandchildren, of course, but coming home to the coast and seeing one of my kids fully embracing the environment that I grew up in does this Mama’s heart good.

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 Measuring the dungeness crab

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Summertime toes

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Screen Shot 2016-03-18 at 11.07.24 PM 3Summer seemed to come early to western Canada this year and we’ve experienced some record high temperatures over the past couple of weeks. After being hidden beneath the warmth of socks, shoes and boots all winter, my toes are out in the open again! I’ve been padding around the house in bare feet and wearing sandals much of the time.

With barefoot season comes my trademark gold toenail polish! I don’t remember when this tradition first began, but I’ve been wearing gold polish on my toes for many years.

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They usually remain polish free over the winter months unless we’re in sunnier climes, but here they are enjoying a beautiful beach in Costa Rica a few winters ago.

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Far more important than my toenail colour, however, is what I do year round to keep my feet healthy and ready for these barefoot days of summer. The last thing I do before sliding my feet between the bedsheets every night of the year is apply lotion to them. No dried out, calloused or cracked heels for this barefoot girl!

I’m not particularly fussy about what kind of lotion I use and I don’t usually bother looking for a cream that’s specifically designed for feet. It’s the consistency of doing this on a daily basis that works for me, not the brand of lotion or the ingredients in it.  There are always a variety of scented and unscented body lotions on my bedside table to choose from. That being said, however, I do have a special tube of Ahava foot cream that I purchased at the Dead Sea in January that I’ve been saving for this summer!

How do you take care of your feet?

What’s your favourite toenail colour?

 

Disaster! What should we do?

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photo credit: Edmonton Journal

 

The images coming out of Fort McMurray, Alberta over the past few days have been terrifying. A city on fire and its entire population of 80 000 people evacuated!

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photo credit: CBC

 

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photo credit: CBC

 

We appreciate the messages of concern received this week from friends around the world who heard the word “Alberta” on the news and immediately thought of us! Fort McMurray is about 500 km north of us. Though the entire province is experiencing an unusually hot, dry spring and the risk of fire is high everywhere, we are safe!

It has been gratifying to see the outpouring of support from people across Alberta and beyond our borders for the residents of Fort McMurray. As Missions president for our church, I have been fielding questions about how we as a congregation can help. Here is Church of the Nazarene Canada West District Superintendent, Dr. Larry Dahl’s, response to similar questions:

We have had a number of inquiries regarding how people can provide support and help for the disaster in Fort McMurray.

We are suggesting to those who are interested in making a donation to send funds directly to Samaritan’s Purse, who are presently working on organizing a response. They were quite actively involved in helping with the Slave Lake fire and then with the High River flood crisis in the past.

Additionally, if they wish, they could send funds to the Salvation Army, designated to help with the relief for the area. I received the following information from Major Ron Cartmell, Divisional Commander:

“The Salvation Army has been mobilized to feed 1,000 first responders south of Fort McMurray. Our portable kitchen is in place, and as I write, three other teams from Alberta and Saskatchewan are en route to help.”

I concur with Dr. Dahl and would add that the Red Cross is another organization that you might consider sending a donation to. The Canadian Government has agreed to match all donations made to the Red Cross Alberta Fires Emergency Appeal.

Cash donations, even small ones, are by far the most effective way to help those recovering from any disaster of this nature, but what should a person not do?

No one wants to see the collective community’s goodwill offerings end up in the landfill, but sadly, in situations like this one, when people start filling trucks and trailers with used goods and hauling them into the affected area, that’s often exactly what ends up happening. It happened following the 2011 Slave Lake fire, it happened following the High River flood in 2013, and unfortunately, it will happen this time too.

Compassion tells us that we need to help these people get back on their feet by replacing the things they’ve lost, so we start collecting food, clothing and household items without thinking about the fact that someone has to sort, warehouse and distribute what we collect. Also, people may not realize that for heath and safety reasons a lot of what is collected can’t be distributed at all. If you do want to donate material goods during the first few weeks following this or any other crisis, the wise thing to do is to find out what specific needs have been identified by the emergency shelters and meet those needs which usually include things like disposable diapers, baby formula and toiletry items.

Many of the larger needs will come later. For example, during a wildfire, electricity to the community is lost. That means that by the time the Fort McMurray evacuees return home, if they have a home to return to, every single fridge and freezer in that city will be full of rotting food and will probably need to be replaced. We’re talking thousands of appliances. This is not a need that can be met by shipping individual donated items. It will require negotiations with manufacturers, huge buying power and major logistical coordination. Organizations like the Red Cross, in cooperation with government, are equipped to handle this kind of need, but they can only do that if they receive adequate monetary donations.

So give wisely. Instead of sending material goods, give a cash donation to Samaritan’s Purse, the Salvation Army, or the Red Cross. If you have clothing, furniture or other possessions to get rid of, hold a garage sale and donate the proceeds. Disaster victims don’t need your discards!

Donate:

Aging with grayce

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Why is it that gray hair on a man is often considered sexy or sophisticated? Think Richard Richard GereGere, ladies!

Women, on the other hand, have long felt tremendous societal pressure to cover their gray. Amazing amounts of time and money are spent fending off the effects of time and trying to hang onto a coveted youthful ideal. Recently, the lovely young Duchess of Cambridge was chastised in the press for allowing a few strands of gray to appear in her lustrous brunette mane!

Times and trends are changing though and even some well known actresses and models are choosing to embrace their gray. Far from looking old and washed out, these gals are stunning!

Jamie Lee Curtis

 

I’ve always loved Jamie Lee Curtis’ short pixie cut and doesn’t it look great in pewter?

 

 

 

 

 

Kori Hendrix

 

 

Here’s Kori Hendrix, a Texas realtor and model. Isn’t she gorgeous?

 

 

 

 

 

 

In days gone by, it was thought that women who did let their hair go gray should at least keep it short, but not anymore! Look at the flowing locks on these beauties!

Ingrid Becker

 

In her late 60s, Ingrid Becker is a top German model.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Model Cindy Joseph

 

Cindy Joseph, began her career in the late 1970s working as a make-up artist for fashion and beauty photographers. In 1999, at the age of 49, she was approached on the street by a casting agent and asked to model for a Dolce and Gabbana ad campaign. That ignited her modeling career with Ford Models Inc., which continues to flourish today at age 66.
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Nicola Griffin also came to modelling later in life. A middle-aged single mother from Nottingham, England, who ran a business organizing student exchange trips, Griffin was standing in line at the bank with her twin daughters when a stranger representing a hair product company asked her if she’d be willing to model for the company’s latest campaign. She was sceptical, but her teenage daughters urged her to give it a try. That quickly led to other modelling jobs and at age 56, she became the oldest woman ever to model for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue!

Born in France in December of 1955, Yasmina Rossi is both a grandmother and a highly sought after model who still looks good in a bikini!

“My hair started turning gray when I was 12 and was salt-and-pepper by the time I hit 20,” says Rossi. “I never colored it, because I knew it was my best asset.”

Yasmina Rossi Model age 59

Yasmina Rossi

Who says gray can’t be sexy and sophisticated?

My first strands of gray began to appear when I was in my mid 40s. I distinctly remember sitting at the dinner table between my oldest son and his friend, both in their teens and both towering over me in height. Looking down at my head, my son commented on the fact that I was getting quite a few gray hairs. “That’s not gray hair,” his friend responded. “Those are silver highlights!” I always did love that boy!

Going gray has been a very slow process. Almost twenty years after that dinner table conversation, my hair still looks more brown than gray in photos. I don’t remember where I first saw the “aging with grayce” phrase, but I’ve adopted it as my own. I can’t tell you whether you should colour your hair or go au naturel, but I love my silver highlights and I have no desire to hide them. I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll ever go completely gray, but if I do, I hope I can carry it off with as much dignity and grace as the beautiful ladies shown above!

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Keeping my promise

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Screen Shot 2016-03-18 at 11.07.24 PM 3It was Norman Vincent Peale who penned the words, “Promises are like crying babies in a theatre, they should be carried out at once.”

This week, I carried out a promise that I made here on the blog just three weeks ago. It was then that I wrote about the New Missions Give Sneakers campaign to provide new shoes for each of the 10 000 children who attend New Missions schools in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. I promised that if I bought myself any new shoes during the drive I would make a matching donation to the Give Sneakers campaign.

So what did I buy?

In a recent post, fashion blogger Susan Street of Fifty, Not Frumpy, wore this pair of strappy sandals.

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As she often does, Susan, who loves wearing heels, included an alternate shoe that might appeal to those of us who prefer flats.

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I immediately fell in love with her suggestion, Cob Hill’s ‘Gabby’ lace up sandal featured on the Nordstrom website, but frugal shopper that I am, I did not love the price! I added the look to my fashion wish list, however, and when I was in Edmonton last week, I found these at Payless ShoeSource.

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True, the uppers are not genuine leather, but at approximately one-third the price, I’m delighted with the ‘Zoey’ ghillie low wedge by Brash.

I wasn’t really looking for a second pair of shoes on this particular shopping trip, but there was a BOGO (buy one, get a second pair at half price) sale happening at Payless! How could I leave with just one pair? I couldn’t, of course! I had in mind a pair of casual flats in a neutral colour and when I tried on the ‘Clover’ skimmer with its cushiony memory foam insole, I knew I’d found what I was looking for. They are so comfortable that they will, without a doubt, become a go to shoe this summer!

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Whether you’re in the market for new shoes or not, why not join me in covering the feet of children who might otherwise have to walk to school barefoot? You can make your donation at givesneakers.com. You’ll be glad you did. I promise!

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Beauty from the inside out

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Screen Shot 2016-03-18 at 11.07.24 PM 3Long before I ever thought about trying my hand at fashion blogging, I wrote a series of posts about what makes a woman beautiful. You can find those posts here, here and here.

As I mentioned in the first of that series, the Bible speaks of “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” that “does not come from outward adornment.” (1 Peter 3:3-4) It also says “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

If these things are true, and I sincerely believe that they are, why in the world am I blogging about fashion? Nowhere does scripture say that a godly woman shouldn’t concern herself with style, dress in fine clothes, wear elaborate jewelry or use make-up. It simply says that her true beauty shouldn’t depend on these things. It ought to come from within.

Some Christians emphatically declare that inner beauty is all that matters; that attention to outer beauty is sinful vanity. I disagree completely! True, a nasty, mean-spirited woman dressed in designer clothes and made up impeccably, is still mean and nasty. Unless something happens to transform her from the inside out, that ill-tempered spirit will soon become evident and we will see through her attractive appearance. Similarly, a beautiful spirit can be hidden beneath a frumpy or unkempt exterior, but sadly, it may not be noticed. It’s our outer appearance that often attracts people to us and makes our inner person readily available to them.

Clothing, hair and make-up can be an asset without becoming an obsession and, like it or not, the way we present ourselves sends messages to those who come in contact with us. Rightly or wrongly, we live in a culture where people do judge a book by its cover.

What does your appearance say about you? Does it tell the world that you care about yourself, that you matter, that you’re worth the time it takes to look after yourself? I think it should!

Clearly, we need balance in our lives. We need to do those things that nurture inner peace and beauty, but if we want them to shine through and be seen,  it behooves us to put a little effort into our outward appearance too. In addition, looking good is a great confidence booster!

Looking our best doesn’t mean being overdressed and it doesn’t have to cost a lot. Here’s a comfy, casual look that I might wear to the grocery store on a cool spring day.

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I’m wearing dark wash jeans from Old Navy, a Reitman’s t-shirt, cute sneakers and a very special bright pink hoodie that adds a pop of colour to my otherwise neutral outfit.

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The prints on the pockets are the hands of two of my young grandsons! They live over 1300 km from me, but when I wear this gift I feel just a wee bit closer to them.

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And this is hidden on the inside… from my son and his wife.

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Don’t I have a creative daughter-in-law? She’s definitely one of the beautiful women in my life!

As good as my last scan

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Fellow NET cancer patient and blogger, Ronny Allen, published a post awhile back entitled, “I’m only as good as my last scan.” That sentiment definitely resonated with me as I never know what to say when people ask me how I’m doing. For the past while, I’ve been feeling absolutely great, 100% even, but unless I’ve had a recent scan, I really have no idea how I’m doing on the inside. That’s why I was actually looking forward to this week’s treatment and it’s follow-up scans, the first look at my cancer in 6 months.

Today, let me walk you through what this two day process looks like. On Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. Richard and I sat down with Dr. Sandy McEwan, scientist and doctor extraordinaire and head of my cancer care team. I told him how great I’ve been feeling, he told me how great I look, and I signed consent for the treatment procedure. He also shared some of the recent findings of the clinical trial that I’m part of including the exciting news of one patient who has been surgically proven to be tumour free!

Next, we were off to the volunteer run Sunroom Cafe to kill time over a cup of tea while we waited for the next step which was having my IV inserted at 11:00. Shortly after that, we headed up to the third floor to check into my private room in the nuclear medicine corner of the inpatient ward. In preparation for the treatment itself, I was given an anti nausea pill and a saline drip was started. Then I sat back and relaxed until the arrival of the radioactive Lutetium-Octreotate, which had just been flown in from the Netherlands where it is produced. At that point, Richard had to leave and I continued to relax  while it flowed through my veins seeking out and attaching itself to my tumours. Because I’m part of a clinical trial, there is lots of monitoring to be done, so Michelle, who administers the treatment, was in and out of my room over the next hour or so constantly checking my vital signs. My blood pressure remained good and she was astonished by my slow, steady heart rate. Obviously, I wasn’t experiencing any stress. Why should I? After all, this was my sixth treatment and I’m an old hand at this now!

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Once the Lutetium was in and the lines were flushed, the IV was removed. If I lived in the city, I’d have been free to go home, but since I live a couple of hours away and had to be back for my scan by 8 o’clock the next morning, I stayed the night. Richard came back to visit bringing me a Subway sandwich as my one and only complaint about the Cross Cancer Institute is the food. It’s so bad that even the staff apologizes for it! Dr. McEwan dropped in to see how the treatment had gone and then I settled in for a quiet evening. I spent awhile visiting and exchanging stories with the patient in the room next to mine, a retired farmer from northern Saskatchewan. At the Cross, Lutetium is administered to three patients at a time.

I slept well and was up bright and early to head back downstairs for my scans. After spending the night at our son’s place, Richard met me there. For the full body scan, I had to lay perfectly still on my back with a pillow beneath my head and another under my knees. Covered by a warmed blanket, I was quite comfortable as my body slowly moved beneath the enormous camera just a few inches above me. Dr. McEwan had planned on having a second, 3D scan done as well, but that machine was down. The technicians were working on it and if he’d felt it was necessary, we’d have waited around until it was up and running again. He was certain, however, that the first scan showed all that we needed to know. My cancer is stable! The tumours haven’t grown and there aren’t any new ones. There’s also no sign of recurrence of my second, unrelated cancer. While it would have been nice to hear that the tumours were continuing to shrink or that, as in the case of the woman mentioned above, they had disappeared completely, that is most unusual and no change is also good news.

I hope Ronny doesn’t mind me borrowing his title, but he is right. I’m only as good as my last scan and right now, that’s very good!

F is for Fashion

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When you’re shopping, how do you decide which items of clothing to add to your wardrobe and which ones to leave behind?

Let me introduce you to several words beginning with F that can help make those decisions easier.

The first thing to consider is fit. In the words of Stacy London and Clinton Kelly of What Not to Wear fame, “If you don’t have fit, you don’t have style.” The key is to try things on and look in the fitting-room mirror with a critical eye. Do shoulder seams lie in the right place? Are armholes sufficiently high without cutting into your armpits? Does the garment pull across your shoulder blades? Is the length appropriate? Is there puckering or wrinkling anywhere? If you’re unsure about fit, try on another size for comparison. Then, if you’re seriously considering buying an item, leave the dressing room and head for the three-way mirror! Don’t buy anything without first checking the fit from behind!

Fit and flattering go hand in hand. First of all, consider whether or not the garment suits your body type. Does it accentuate your good features and disguise the less desirable ones? For example, I have a boyish figure; straight up and down with very little waist definition and narrow hips. The shape of this tunic gives me a more feminine profile. The three-quarter length sleeves draw the eye away from my waist and the fabric drapes slightly over my mid-section hiding the middle age muffin top that I’ve been battling with lately. The handkerchief hemline and wide band at the bottom give the illusion of girlish hips.

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Knowing which colours flatter you is also important. Back in the 80s when colour draping was all the rage, I met with a Colour Me Beautiful consultant and learned that I was a Spring.  I already knew through trial and error that black or white near my face made me look like a corpse and that gold jewelry was much more flattering on me than silver, but knowing my colours and carrying my little booklet of fabric swatches with me when I shopped was invaluable. It gave me the courage to try colours I’d never worn before and taught me to reject the ones that didn’t look as good on me. Though we were all categorized according to season back then, I understand that in Europe and the Middle East six newer themes have since been introduced: light, deep, warm, soft, clear and cool. In either case, having your colours done is fun and well worth the cost. Keep in mind, however, that nothing is forever set in stone. In recent years, as my hair has taken on more silver highlights, I’ve discovered that I can now wear black. Silver jewelry also looks fine on me now.

While we’re on the topic of colour, it’s a good idea to think about whether or not the garment you’re considering can be worn with other items that are already in your closet. If you have to buy a whole new outfit to go with it, it might not be a wise purchase.

The next F word is feel. Regardless of how well the garment fits and whether the colour suits you, if you don’t find it comfortable or you don’t like the texture of the fabric, you won’t enjoy wearing it. You should also ask yourself whether wearing it will boost your confidence or make you feel self-conscious. The tunic shown above is 95% polyester and 5% spandex. I find the lightweight, slightly stretchy fabric extremely comfortable and I feel great walking into a room in this garment.

It’s also important to think about whether or not the item is functional.  Does it fit your lifestyle? Where will you wear it? For example, I spent most of my career working as an elementary school teacher. My days often involved chalk, poster paint and paper mache, so my working wardrobe needed to be washable. I also had to be able to comfortably crouch down beside a student’s desk to help him with his work. As I was on my feet most of the time and I was the teacher who played on the swings and jumped rope with the kids when I was on outdoor supervision, I definitely needed comfortable shoes. Your needs might be entirely different. Now that I’m retired, I no longer need a working wardrobe, but I still want to look my best wherever I go.

Another important consideration is whether or not the item is affordable. Okay, this one doesn’t start with F, but I figure that the two Fs make up for that! Everyone has a different price point, so again, I can’t tell you what’s right for you. In clothing shopping, as in most other areas of life, I’m quite frugal which does start with F! I invariably head for the sales racks when I enter a shop and I love thrift store shopping, so I seldom pay full price for my clothing. The tunic was purchased late last fall at Laura in South Edmonton Common at a fraction of its original price.

The last F word might seem odd, but I think fun should also be on the list. I agree with fashion icon, Iris Apfel, who said, “I think getting dressed should be a very joyful and creative experience.”