And the winner is…

Hello, everyone! First order of business today is this:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Now, I want to thank you all for the birthday wishes. Of those who commented, I am pleased to announce, I have drawn the name of the winner…and that person is…(drum roll please!)…Christy Birmingham at Poetic Parfait. Congratulations, Christy! I’ll be contacting you soon so I can get your prize to you. Sorry to all the others who participated. Perhaps I will do another draw later this year. 🙂

On Thursday, I had a wonderful birthday, beginning with breakfast accompanied by a good friend. We ate at Cora’s, an award-winning Canadian restaurant that serves the most amazing breakfasts and lunches, but that’s all they make. Don’t expect them to be open for dinner, unfortunately. I think their dinner entrees would be just as fantastic as their brunches, if they made them. After ‘Eggs Bene-dictine’ with fresh asparagus and Swiss cheese, we went to the WAG (Winnipeg Art Gallery) to see the Norman Rockwell display.

He was such a fantastic artist and very prolific. He designed hundreds of Saturday Night Post covers and posters and paintings, all capturing the beauty of the ordinary person doing ordinary things. He could literally tell a story in a single picture with so many minute details, it just boggles my mind. I understand there is an actual museum totally dedicated to ALL his work, which would be one of those things I’d definitely want to put on my bucket list. Amazing!

For my birthday, my friend made me this beautiful e-reader cover. Ironically, it was very similar to the sweater I wore that day (and for my St. Patrick’s Day picture, although it doesn’t show up very well.)

After she dropped me off at home, I anxiously awaited my daughter’s arrival so I could get some grandson time! We had a lovely visit with him and his parents, ordered in pizza and ate birthday cake with my daughter’s name on it, as her birthday is tomorrow. Since we won’t be able to see her on her birthday, we combined the events.

Friday, another friend took me out for lunch. I feel so special! We had a lovely three hour (or more) chat about our wonderful children & grandchildren (she has two up on me!) and all the interesting things they are up to, these days. It was a lovely, leisurely afternoon.

Also, yesterday, when I checked my mailbox, I noticed I had received another

After nominating Amy for the Versatile Blogger, she passed it back to me! 🙂 Thank-you Amy! Some of her comments struck a chord with me so the 7 things I am about to reveal are in response to her comments. (You might want to pop by her blog and see what she had to say.)

#1 – My husband and I talk to the TV all the time, warning the victim of a serial killer or telling the police person trying to solve the case where to look for clues, etc. Anyone watching us watch TV would probably think we’re crazy! lol
#2 – I love furry animals, too. The fur doesn’t bother me at all, except when it gets up my nose and makes me sneeze!
#3 – I love watching my SON play video games. I’m a clutz and can’t play difficult games, but my son is an amazing gamer! Watching him play is pure poetry!
#4 – I don’t watch American Idol or any of those other talent-related reality shows for the same reason she likes them. I am so critical and get so bugged. It irritates me when the contestants are off-key or too nasal, or whatever. I just can’t watch shows like that even though there are some who have amazing voices.
#5 – I was a precocious child until I hit Junior High. With a mom who insisted I wear polyester pantsuits instead of jeans and who cut my hair so short I looked like a boy, plus having braces, I quickly became very self-conscious and shy right up until I went away to college. Then I blossomed, although I still have my shy moments.
#6 – I agree that people shouldn’t rush into marriage. My hubby proposed 6 months after we met, but I gave him back the ring saying I wasn’t ready for a steady relationship but still wanted to date him. 6 months later, I accepted his ring and after a three-year engagement while I went away to college, we were married. Our next anniversary will be our 33rd. 🙂
#7 – My goal in life is to help people and love those that most are afraid to love, mainly because they don’t understand them. Special Needs children and adults are often misunderstood, but they can be the most loving, if not challenging, people I know. That’s why I love my day job as much as my writing job.
A couple more things related to Amy’s comments: I have a cousin who is color blind – completely – sees only black, white and shades of gray. I feel a little sorry for him because colors to me bring out certain emotions that someone without the ability to see the various colors might miss out on, I think. As for the number 13, that was always my mother’s lucky number. When she was 13, she was in a car accident in which she was lucky enough to survive. She had 13 stitches. The date of the accident was the 13th as well as many other things associated with 13 and that day that I don’t remember at the moment. All through her life she valued that number. At the end of her life, after suffering great pain, she passed away on . . . the 13th. She would have loved the symmetry in that. 🙂

This weekend, I plan to get as many more cards made as I can. Easter is creeping up at an alarming rate and I still have so many to make! Hope you all have a great weekend! 🙂