Checkmate!

October 11, 2019October 11, 2019 / edebock / 11 Comments

My husband is a very generous man who loves to surprise me with unexpected gifts. Last Friday was my birthday and he definitely outdid himself! When cabi’s Fall 2019 Collection was released, I fell in love with the cozy Checkmate Jacket, but I balked at the price and decided not to buy it. Apparently, although I don’t remember the conversation, Richard overheard me telling our daughter about it. Engaging the help of my cabi stylist friend and another friend who was hosting a cabi party, he arranged to buy it for my birthday!

He’s definitely a winner! Checkmate!

The jacket’s roomy, double-breasted style, shoulder pads, and faux horn buttons give it a slightly retro vibe and the soft polyester blend feels like I’m wearing a hug! Panels of stretch fabric on the inner sides of the sleeves reduce bulk and add to the comfort.

I wore it to the city on Tuesday. After seeing my doctor, hearing the good news that there’s been no significant change to my thyroid cancer, and making the decision to simply continue monitoring it, we headed over to West Edmonton Mall to check out the brand new Uniqlo store. I wasn’t really planning to buy anything, but one of the first things I spotted was this lovely orange blouse on sale for a very reasonable price.

It was immediately obvious that it would coordinate beautifully with the jacket, so I snapped it up. I especially like the 3/4 sleeves and the shirttail hem that’s longer at the back, but I wouldn’t have bought it if I hadn’t known that I could also wear it with several other things in my closet.

If the jacket looks familiar to you, perhaps you saw it in the August 16, 2019 issue of Family Circle magazine!

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Milestones

March 12, 2019 / edebock / 10 Comments

I’m not sure how it happened so quickly, but our youngest grandson will be 5 tomorrow!

We spent this past weekend in Calgary for an early birthday celebration. On Friday, while Mommy and Daddy were working and big brother and sister were at school, we took him on a lunch date to his favourite restaurant, a McDonald’s with a great Playplace where he burned off a ton of energy after eating his meal.

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It was a weekend full of fun… sledding, skating, colouring, playing multiple board games and hide and seek, and in the early hours of the morning, a tiny boy crawling into bed with me! I’ve long referred to Simon as my velcro boy because whenever I’m around he attaches himself to me like glue. I thought that that might begin to change as he grew older, but so far it hasn’t and I’m definitely not in any hurry for it to!

Turning 5 is a milestone of sorts. Over the coming year, Simon will leave the preschool stage behind and take another step toward becoming a “big kid”. He’ll go to Kindergarten in the fall.

Simon’s birthday is also a milestone for me. In late August of 2013, when I was first told that I had cancer, Melaina was 10 or 11 weeks pregnant. Before we knew what kind of cancer I had, what sort of treatments I might be facing, or what the outcome might be, I prayed very specifically that I would live to see and hold that baby. It was pure joy to be in the delivery room on March 13, 2014 when he arrived and to have the honour of cutting the umbilical cord (his Daddy was there too, but he’s squeamish about such things and was more than happy to have me do it)! I am extremely grateful to still be here to see Simon turn 5 and to enjoy all the fun of being his Gram!

Thankfully, recent CT scans have shown that my condition continues to be stable. I’ll be having another, and most likely my final, PRRT treatment in June. We have no idea what will come next, but there’s every reason to believe that I’ll be around to see Simon and my other grandchildren celebrate many more birthdays!

A boy for his birthday!

January 6, 2017January 6, 2017 / edebock / 5 Comments

Today is my husband Richard’s birthday. We quit buying birthday gifts for each other years ago, but this year I broke with that and ordered something really cute for his birthday.

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His name is Rodolson. He’s seven years old and he’s in first grade in his home country of Haiti.

No, we aren’t adopting a child in our old age! Instead, we will be sponsoring Rodolson through an organization called New Missions which, coincidentally, is celebrating it’s 34th birthday today.

In 1983, the late George DeTellis and his wife, Jeanne, left the United States for Haiti with nothing more than what they could carry on the plane. They lived in tents pitched under a grove of coconut trees and started a church the first Sunday they were there. Now, 34 years later, New Missions, which also branched into the Dominican Republic in 2000, has over 30 churches as well as elementary schools, high schools, medical clinics, a Bible college, and a professional trade school.

Following the devastating earthquake of 2010 the United States military made the main New Missions compound their primary base camp for relief work in Haiti’s southern plain. Though many churches and schools were destroyed by the 7.0 earthquake, New Missions has rebounded and continues to thrive.

For just $33 a month, child sponsorship through New Missions provides a child with quality education, a daily hot lunch which for some is their primary meal of the day, and medical care. New Missions also provides a number of community development initiatives including clean water, vocational training and local employment, all vital in this poorest part of the western hemisphere.

Rodolson is not our first New Missions child. We have been sponsoring Marie since she was nine. Today, she is a lovely young woman of 22 with one year of high school left to complete and a dream of pursuing nurse’s training. Over the years, we’ve enjoyed exchanging letters with her and watching her grow. Now we get to do the same with Rodolson.

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