MRB's Talking Fingers

  After some discussion in recent blogs about our use of the English language, it brought to mind one of the major projects that was presented to me some twenty years ago. My abilities on the computer were being honed with persistence, and my first two major contracts were to design and print “advertising cards” for companies who wished to advertise through Welcome Wagon, and announcement cards for Christian Women’s Club. Being a home-based business in a rural setting added a lot of road trips to my adventures. On one occasion, I received a phone call from a gentleman who said that he had received my business card from the Welcome Wagon representative, and wondered if I did proof-reading and script preparation for publishing; did that fit into the job description of “Your Choice Designs”? He was looking for someone to review his autobiography and ready it for printing. No, I had never done anything like that before. I told him that I was a retired nurse, I loved to read, and now wa...

How many times have you said that you didn't want to be a bother” to a friend, when you know they are going through an unusually busy or stressful time. You would like to do something to help, but then wondered what you could do that would be helpful. Even a phone call would interrupt their busy day, and that could just be annoying. Many years ago, when your children were quite young, we had an experience that I’ll never forget. My husband had a serious accident at our new home under construction. I had just returned home to put our children to bed, when the doorbell rang. I didn’t want to see or talk to anyone, especially someone who would be trying to sell me something that I didn’t need. However, after about the fourth chime from the door, I opened the door a wee bit and recognized the callers. The gentleman worked in our office, and he and his wife had travelled across the city to bring us a box of homemade cookies for the children’s lunch bags. They told me that they didn’t kn...

  I hope my readers are enjoying the spring days of the long weekend. It doesn’t really matter about the weather, which none of us can control, or the restrictions imposed on all of us.  I’m sure that you are wishing that you could enjoy some time with your family or some close friends. I’m in my favorite chair by the window, and I won’t see the sun set this evening because it is so foggy in our valley. It has rained off and on, and some areas have even had a bit of snow. I think we are still having April showers but the leaves are coming out and our valley is green. My evening is quiet and I’ve had some time to reflect on the last couple of weeks. It has been amazing and something that I didn’t see coming. My husband and I can still say that we are content, even though most of the year has been on our little patch of land, except for necessary trips to town for ‘essentials’. His shop seems to have received a sort of ‘facelift’ and I has been surrounded by photos and scrapbook...

  How many times, in this last year, have you read the phrase ‘Food For Thought’? Some are meant to give us thoughts to ponder, perhaps on topics that had never even crossed your mind. If you ask Google the meaning of ‘food for thought’, it tells us that it is “something that warrants serious consideration”;   something that needs to be thought over carefully before deciding or acting. The topics can be varied; medical, political, religious, or daily living. Some can even be silly, just to entertain the reader. I’ve been thinking a lot about food this last while. What do I need to have on my grocery list? Do I want to prepare a meal from scratch or do I want to try some prepared meals from a deli or the frozen food section at the market? What about the ‘craving’ for my favorite dessert, what would be easiest to chew with my new dentures? During one of my personal photo scanning sessions, I came across a number of photos that reminded me of some of my favorite meals...

  It is hard for me to realize that March is almost finished... at least in our part of this world. We did get a taste of Spring somewhat early but that’s gone now. The temperatures have been in the mid 50*F and we are now told to prepare for a coming snow ‘blizzard’ after the expected balmy weekend. I give up! I have enough to tend to without worrying about what kind of weather is coming or going. If you have read my last blog (dated March 10 th ), you will know that I planned to let you know how many photos will make a ‘truckload’. I still don’t know, but I now have some idea because I’ve been busy with the first ‘haul’. But first, I want to give a ‘big’ thank you to our own NOTH owner and computer repairman, TC. With just one email to answer my question about the difficulties I had in installing the new photo scanner that I purchased. He carefully wrote the instructions, step-by-step, in what I should do to solve the problem. I carefully read and followed his instruction, and in...

  I’ve been at it again… trying my best to remember to do the things that I must do, and enjoy the things that I like to do. My goal is… never have a boring day! There are so many possibilities, no matter what our abilities are. If we are still breathing, we should be able to talk, eat, and sleep! That’s a good start! The past year has been filled with challenges, no matter where we live. As some signs along our highway state… ‘WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER; WE WILL GET THROUGH IT!” I hope it is working for my readers too. In our home, there have been the usual duties… shop for groceries, attend medical appointments, do the laundry, tidy our living area, and make the necessary phone calls. There are extra activities that are more fun… bake a cake, work on a jigsaw puzzle, paint a fence, do some handwork like knitting or crocheting, pursue a hobby outdoors or in the shop, enjoy some armchair travelling (either on TV or your own collection of photographs), learn something new, even on a...

  Following graduation, the class of nurses went their separate ways, to find their first job as a Registered Nurse (known as an RN), continue their education, or to finally marry the love of their life (which was not allowed during training days). They were now members of the Hospital Alumnae, and made concerted efforts to travel back to attend the annual Alumnae Banquet. Traditionally, each class planned their own class reunion every five years, which included attending the Alumnae Banquet. The first class reunion, five years after graduation, was filled with stories and photos of career jobs and weddings. At the tenth year reunion, there were photos of babies and young children, along with new jobs and travel experiences. The ‘sisterhood’ was deep and the weekends were filled with planned events, dining wherever possible, late night chatting in hotel rooms, but there was very little sleep. There was great sadness in the class when it was learned that the hospital was closed and ...