How Awesome is That!!!

Back in October, I attended a presentation by a famous Canadian children's author that was arranged through work and hosted by a local book store. The author was Sharon Mckay, of Charlie Wilcox fame. Over the years, working in elementary school libraries, I had read many of Sharon's books and had enjoyed them all. My favorite was 'Esther'.

Whe reading Sharon's books, I had always wondered if Sharon was the Sharon McKay I went to school with back in Montreal. I no longer have to wonder, because is Sharon is the same Sharon McKay that I went to school with!!! Before the presentation, I went over and introduced mysef to Sharon (I'm sure some of the staff I was with must have wondered about the screaming that was going on in our corner of the store) as Sharon recognized me right away. After 40 years our paths have crossed again. And what is even more miraclous we are living within about 10 miles of each other in a community about 500 miles from where we grew up. Luckily and thankfully the owner of the bookstore had a camera and quickly snapped the above picture of the two of us.

Mom's 75th

September was a special month for celebrating and reunions. We celebrated Mom's 75th birthday in Montreal on September 27th. It was a long trip along the 401 from Toronto to Montreal but it was well worth the trip 'home'. Not only did we help Mom celebrate her special birthday, but we also saw family members and old family friends. It had been a few years since I had seen my siblings and almost 30 years since I had seen some of our family friends. A great time was had by all and some awesome pictures were taken. It's not everyday that we see all the extended members of our family and since we were dressed up it was a great opportunity for picture taking.



Almost the whole family. Mom, my siblings and the grand kids from Toronto and Monreal.


Mom (in the middle) my two brothers, my sister and me.


My husband and I and our three kids.


Our three kids.

Stampin Canada Weekend

Labour Day weekend was officially declared a StampinCanada weekend where the eastern (Southern Ontario) stampers meet the western stampers in Burlington. A fun time was had by all and included a stamping pj party, stamp shopping in and around Burlington and Hamilton and the infamous Buffalo Stamps in Buffalo. While in Buffalo we pulled ourselves away from the craft stores for a short time and had a wonderful lunch at the Olive Garden. Then it was back to shopping again. Sunday morning we had a card class at Angela's in Dundas, then a visit to a Toronto night club in the evening. Monday, we all atteded a very special lunch in a members fantastic garden and talked some more. Then too soon it was time to say good-bye as the ladies from the west had to make their flights home.


PJ party and swap


Lunch at the Olive Garden.


Buffalo Stamps & Angela's


Final lunch

Card Swap

Some of my Stamping Canada friends from points west came to visit us here in Southern Ontario Labour Day weekend. The few weeks before they got here I was a little stressed as I wanted to make the best swap card I could, but I had too many ideas floating around in my head to make one card. Finally, I settled on a few stamps and the background image and the colors. This is what I came up with. I combined a few stampscape stamps with a stamp from Stamping Up. Although it's hard to see, the yellow background was embossed in my cuttlebug.

Summer

Don't know where the summer went, probably down the drain with all the rain water. I've never seen such a wet summer. My grass loved it and stayed green all summer, but I certainly didn't love it. With much anticipation we rented a cottage for a week hoping the rain would stop or slow down. Well, it slowed down a little, but not enough. We never even made it to the beach.

A Stamping Good Time

Saturday afternoon was a blast! I met my up with my
cyber stamping friends from Stampin Canada in Milton
and we stamped 3 beautiful cards at Judy's Stamping Up demo's house. At the same time we got to know each other some more and learned some amazing techniques including bleaching and tearing.

Stamping Cyber Buddies

Back in February, a few of us from Southern Ontario, who meet on the newly formed Stampin Canada forum, had a real face to face get together. We had a fun-filled afternoon of stamping and chatting. It's just amazing all the things we learn from each other. Another fun filled afternoon is scheduled for this Saturday in Milton.

30 Year Reunion

My friend Sue and I met Nan from Georgia during the 1976 Montreal Olympics. We were all sitting on the grass waiting anxiously for a glimpse of the Royal Family as they boarded the Royal Yacht Britannia. As we sat there, we talked and became fast friends.





After 31 years of keeping in touch, we decided it was time for a reunion. Nan drove north from Georgia and we met for 4 wonderful days in Ontario. We talked, ate, visited a spa, toured and talked some more.

To honour our friendship, I made my first ever photo album as a gift for Nan. The first few pages included pictures from 1976 of the three of us. I left lots of room in the second half of the album for pictures of the three of us from 2007.