in da HOT-TUB!

okay - well i don't have any pics of us actually IN da hot-tub (we can't find our bathing suits as we don't need them here - we think they are in one of the attics. as soon as we find them, i'll post a pic of us in da HOT-TUB!)

however, i do have pics OF da hot-tub. here's a pic showing where the hot-tub lives - it's awesome!



and here is a pic of only half of the cover removed. this is a 4-person hot-tub and it is soooo roomy. back in the city we had a 2-person hot-tub. the difference is amazing. we can stretch right out in this one. oh and the jets are to die for.



and here is a pic without the jets on. we love this thing. the little thing floating on the bottom right of the pic is our bobbing water thermometer. that weird string thing on the left - i have no idea??? i think it is the reflection of something or????



so there it is. we have been in and out of it several times over the past two days. the hot-tub is extremely therapeutic and if used regularly, can really help out with a variety of aches and pains. the only problem is that when you first start using it - aches and pains that you might not have been aware of very quickly identify themselves! it takes a couple of weeks of using the hot-tub before you start actually enjoying it. right now - the two of us are moaning and groaning about pains and aches that we didn't know about. and that's on top of the pains and aches that we do know about. but slowly the hydrotherapy will work out all of our aches and pains.

for anyone interested, this is a Softub model. when empty, it only weighs 70lbs...so you can move it anywhere you want. we had a Softub in the city for 2yrs and then gave it to our step-dad. he is enjoying the crap out of that thing. we never experienced any problems with it and neither has our step-dad. i really recommend that if you consider getting a hot-tub, that you check out Softub!

as crazy as this may sound - this is an investment in our health. and well worth the money! besides the hydrotherapy that it provides, it also provides us with a place to start the day and a place to end the day. whenever we are in the hot-tub we chat, we talk about plans for tomorrow, we talk about short-term goals, long-term goals, our ideas and our dreams. the hot-tub is a very soothing way to start and end the day. it helps to relieve stress, tension, muscle aches and pains - and it is a wonderful place to sit and enjoy a glass of wine (me) or a beer (jambaloney) at the end of a day and look back at what we have accomplished.

we love the hot-tub. and recommend that all of our friends look into getting one - the physical, mental and emotional health benefits are great. but getting in da HOT-TUB whenever you want - that's the best part!

TKO'd!

Totally Knocked Out! sick as a dog! we went to the Volunteer Fire Department meeting on Wednesday night. when we got there the hall was freezing. i have been feeling cold and shivery ever since jambaloney got sucker-punched. i lay on the road with him for about 30 minutes wearing nothing more than a sheer skirt, no socks, sandals on my feet and a light top. then i lay on the freezing cold hall floor with him. nothing was worse than the hospital - it was colder in there than it was outside!!! and i realized that i have been shivering and holding my upper body in a hunched position since then.

sitting in that position at the VFD meeting and shivering again for another hour and a half - i think my body just gave in. i am pretty run-down and not afraid to admit it. i woke up in the middle of the night and ran to the bathroom, calling for jambaloney. i had interesting things happening at both ends. it was not pretty, nor enjoyable.

thursday morning saw me praying for death. and more interesting expel-ations from both ends. couldn't hold down any food - not even water. there would be no Remembrance Day celebrations for me. but at least i could watch the national Remebrance Day Ceremony streaming from CBC - but no - not a chance! we were experiencing 50-80km winds and sheets of rain that day and lost power! arghghghghgh! i would have made myself stay up for the whole ceremony, but the truth is, i fell asleep right after we did our 2 minutes of silence. and slept the rest of the day leaving jambaloney alone.

when i got up later that evening, we were still without power but jambaloney had set up the generator and the basement had not flooded. as true to form as they are, Nova Scotia Power had us up and running in under 12 hours and we are truly in the middle of nowhere. we experience better services here than when we lived in the city!!!

anyway - our birthday/Christmas gift to each other arrived the next day and not a minute too soon! i have been out of commission since thursday morning, but our hot-tub arrived and jambaloney re-did a bunch of wiring in order to put it, and our sump-pump, on their own breaker. we spent today filling the tub. and we forgot to take pictures of the process because i was sick and he was so focused. but i will put up a pic of the finished product once it heats up and we clean up the deck - AGAIN! Operation Hot-tub starts now! it will take a full day to heat up, but my aching muscles and joints can't wait!

my friend Donna just went through a bout of what she called "the plague". i might have gotten this from her. make sure to go and check her out. but try not to catch the plague!

holy crap! i just went to link to Donna's blog and saw her Veteran's Day post. and couldn't help myself reading it. Donna's husband Rick is a veteran who has sacrificed much so that you and i can be free. Donna has also been through hell and back and very eloquently reminds us that this day of remembering is not only about the soldiers and the veterans - it is about all that their families must sacrifice, deal with, and live with too! and in her very aware manner, she remembers all of the other countries that have served beside the US soldiers and thanks them too!

thank you Donna! thank you Rick! please make sure to stop by and read her beautiful, honest and very sad, yet uplifting, post!

we will be dropping in to everyone's blogs shortly. i can't wait to see what some of you posted for Remembrance Day/Veteran's Day. but when i miss a few days on people's blogs, i always go back and re-read all of the new posts.

thank you all for your beautiful comments on my last post. i promise to respond to them all! just maybe not right now. head is spinning and need to lay down. but i promise to get to your blogs soon okay?

until then - thank you all for all of the comments that you left on all of my Remembrance Day/Veteran's Day posts - i really appreciated every single one of them!

A Pittance of Time

Terry Kelly is another extraordinary Canadian who supports our troops - all of our troops and veterans. You can visit his website here.

The following is copied from his website and appears in quotes:

" On November 11, 1999 Terry Kelly was in a drug store in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. At 10:55 AM an announcement came over the store’s PA asking customers who would still be on the premises at 11:00 AM to give two minutes of silence in respect to the veterans who have sacrificed so much for us.

Terry was impressed with the store’s leadership role in adopting the Legion’s “two minutes of silence” initiative. He felt that the store’s contribution of educating the public to the importance of remembering was commendable.

When eleven o’clock arrived on that day, an announcement was again made asking for the “two minutes of silence” to commence. All customers, with the exception of a man who was accompanied by his young child, showed their respect.

Terry’s anger towards the father for trying to engage the store’s clerk in conversation and for setting a bad example for his child was channeled into a beautiful piece of work called, “A Pittance of Time”. Terry later recorded “A Pittance of Time” and included it on his full-length music CD, “The Power of the Dream”.

The following lyrics will have you bawling. Be ready and have many tissues!

A Pittance of Time Lyrics:

A Pittance of Time Written by Terry Kelly Published by Jefter Publishing

They fought and some died for their homeland
They fought and some died now it’s our land
Look at his little child, there’s no fear in her eyes
Could he not show respect for other dads who have died?

Take two minutes, would you mind?
It’s a pittance of time
For the boys and the girls who went over
In peace may they rest, may we never forget why they died.
It’s a pittance of time

God forgive me for wanting to strike him
Give me strength so as not to be like him
My heart pounds in my breast, fingers pressed to my lips
My throat wants to bawl out, my tongue barely resists

But two minutes I will bide
It’s a pittance of time
For the boys and the girls who went over
In peace may they rest, may we never forget why they died.
It’s a pittance of time

Read the letters and poems of the heroes at home
They have casualties, battles, and fears of their own
There’s a price to be paid if you go, if you stay
Freedom is fought for and won in numerous ways

Take two minutes would you mind?
It’s a pittance of time
For the boys and the girls all over
May we never forget our young become vets
At the end of the line it’s a pittance of time

It takes courage to fight in your own war
It takes courage to fight someone else’s war
Our peacekeepers tell of their own living hell
They bring hope to foreign lands that the hatemongers can’t kill.

Take two minutes, would you mind?
It’s a pittance of time
For the boys and the girls who go over
In peacetime our best still don battle dress
And lay their lives on the line.
It’s a pittance of time

In Peace may they rest, lest we forget why they died.
Take a pittance of time.

And now the actual song and video. Please note the participation of actual veterans from the Royal Canadian Legion Todmorden Branch #10 and Woodbine Height Branch #2 in the video.

A Pittance of Time

Standing Strong and True

"Standing Strong and True (For Tomorrow)," is an all-star Canadian country single dedicated to fallen Canadian soldiers and their families. All proceeds from the song go to the Canadian Military Families Fund.

I hope that you will all take a moment and listen to this beautiful song - it's another tearjerker! But i think that you will enjoy it. Here are the lyrics in quotes, with the video following afterwards:

"I hear the guns, I feel the fire,
with my last breath my spirit flies
And I see the faces of my friends,
fighting till the end
So many fearless hearts.

I feel their courage and their pain,
their lives should never be in vain.
From heavens gate a perfect view
a plain and simple truth - Is lighting up the dark

Love one another that stranger is your brother
Leave a footprint, everywhere you go
Keep yesterday for giving, today just for living
Say a prayer every night for tomorrow

I pray the past can teach us all,
before another hero falls
Before another mother cries,
forever asking why (Why oh why)

Can't we love one another that stranger is your brother
Leave a footprint everywhere you go (everywhere you go)
Keep yesterday for giving, today just for living
Say a prayer every night for tomorrow

Standing strong and true,
on guard for me and you
Standing strong and true,
on guard for me and you

So we can love one another that stranger is your brother
Leave a footprint everywhere you go
Keep yesterday for giving
Today just for living
Say a prayer every night for tomorrow

Bless the true believers
Who stand and fight for freedom
So we can live in peace right here at home
Live in peace at home
Keep yesterday for giving, today just for living
Say a prayer every night for tomorrow
Say a prayer every night for tomorrow"

Please take the time to watch the video and listen to the beautiful lyrics. My favourite part is "Standing strong and true, on guard for me and you". It is a play on the words from our national anthem "Oh Canada, we stand on guard for you". And that is what our military does. They stand strong and true, on guard for me and you.

And here is the actual video and song. I hope that you will take a few minutes of your time and listen to a beautiful song written for our heroes, some of whom I have met, worked with and known. Some of whom are no longer with us. And for that, my heart breaks.

Standing Strong and True (For Tomorrow)

And if you are interested, you can learn more about the song, the video and the Canadian Military Families Fund here: www.wesaluteourheroes.com

more Remembrance Day posts coming tomorrow but for today ---

happy birthday to me,
happy birthday to me,
i am now 41 years old - woohoo!
happy birthday to me!

jambaloney and i don't celebrate our birthdays (his is next Wednesday on the 16th), but for some weird reason i feel like celebrating today. i have had many women in my life tell me that they loved their 40's and i think i am starting to understand why. i have never been happier in my life and i have jambaloney to thank for that.

it is a good day.

Thank a Soldier

Thank a Soldier is an amazing website doing amazing things for soldiers all over the world. I hope that you all take the time to check out the site, and read about how you can help.

I have copied this from the Thank a Soldier's homepage - I hope that you enjoy!

(the Copied information, with the permission of Dave Murphy, the site owner, appears in quotes below)

"The Thank A Soldier cause was launched at the end of December 2008, and its Facebook group now has over 4.1 Million members (see our facebook instructions to join). Put simply, our goal is to encourage people from all over the world to say "Thank You" when you cross paths with a member of our military. Whether you do so in person, or through one of the options listed below, send messages of thanks to our men & women serving on operations throughout the world.

Show our military and veterans that we appreciate them and the sacrifices they give to keep us free, whether they are from Canada, USA, Britain, or any member of the UN Coalition. Whether you support what they are doing or not, keep in mind these brave men and women leave their families at home and make the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

We would also like to remind everyone to be sure to thank a veteran whenever possible, as without them who knows what language you might be reading this site, in or even if you would be permitted to read it at all.

Thank you to all the men and women who serve and protect our rights and freedoms. Our Thoughts go out to you all and your families who support you while you are on your missions. Our Thoughts go out to those who have lost loved ones who have served and made the ultimate sacrifice for us.

This site has been and will always continue to be ad & banner free. We do not charge membership fees, or take monetary donations. We are dedicated to showing all members of the UN Coalition our thanks and respect for their service, not to make a profit. We welcome tributes and submissions from all over the world, related to any branch of the military.

Thank you for taking the time to view this site.

Another part of Thankasoldier.net is "The Thank A Soldier Monthly"(tasmonthly.blogspot.com) which allows members to send write ups and allows everyone to have a voice within the military community."

----------

Please take a few minutes and visit the Thank a Soldier site. I promise it will be well worth your time. And be certain to read Dave Murphy's About Me section. He is a typical, average, outstanding Canadian who cares. He is someone to admire and respect. And I admire and respect everything that he has done! Kudos to you, Dave!

The Canadian Hero Fund/The Highway of Heroes Song

The Trews are a great band from Nova Scotia. They wrote a song called "The Highway of Heroes" after one of their friends, from their home town, was killed in Afghanistan.

All proceeds from the sale of their song go to the Canadian Hero Fund, an organization that helps military members and their families.

It is a beautiful song. I hope that you will enjoy it.

Go here to listen to it. Have many tissues handy.