Aunt Stephanie

Baby Kate

Kate, Haley & Heath

The wonder of a new baby never ceases to me amaze. I was fortunate that when my sister Heather was pregnant with Kate I got to go to one of her Ultasound visits and see Kate twirling around and officially identified - girl!

And I'm SUPER lucky because I am an Aunt x3.

And most of you know that because.... yes, I brag about them every chance I get.There are so many wonderful things about being an Aunt. My niece & nephew help bring out my silly side.

And they remind me when they visit that there are wonderful things in our own City that can engage and inspire our imagination.










I also share a fashionista gene with all of them.

Something that will bring us closer and closer the older they get, no doubt!

And as an Aunt you are entitled to endless smiles, hugs and snuggles ! Well at least until they turn into full fledged teenagers ;-)




Another cheer for technology, because even though I may be miles and miles away I'm able to stay in touch.
And sometimes even help them with their technology.... right Haley.
 

Nothing like pop culture ...

...to make me feel my age.  There is an editing studio on the floor below me where I work.  It is an old building in what used to be the garment district, so the walls and floors were not built for sound insulation.  Now in the editing process, they often play the same frames over and over while they edit.

So yesterday and today,  the earworm I had going was to the tune ...."believe it or not I'm walking on air, I never thought I would feel this free....".  For those of you that it doesn't immediately bring a familiar tune going off in your head,  you probably weren't born in the 80's.  It's the theme song from an 80's show The Great American Hero.  Maybe this video jacket cover will tweak a memory. If not you can hear and watch this YouTube video, just click this link YouTube

The thing about when you share these observations, especially when half your staff was not even born in 1980 - you get a lot of blank stares.  But that is understandable.  It's when I realize that if they weren't even born in the 80's and I was graduating University in the 80's ... I'm old enough to be their mother !

Trivia Tuesday

I thought I would change the format up a bit for today's post and share a bit of trivia.

I prefer beaches to mountains

I prefer Chocolate to Vanilla

I prefer dogs to cats

  

I prefer the Winter Olympics
 to the Summer Olympics.

and I prefer cocktails to beer

Cheers !!

Photography

I have and always will be in awe of photographers that have an eye to capture moments that not all of us can see with a naked eye. Ansel Adams for his incredible black and white landscape photography and Annie Liebovitz for her photographic portraits are among my favorites.  Those photographers closer to "home" that I admire, Mary Wildridge - incredible nature shots as demonstrated in her book "Seeing through the Seasons" and Kari Von Krosigk - also an incredible eye for beauty in nature and wildlife - LaRoca Range is lucky to have your keen eye.  My colleague Diana has shared many of her amazing photographs and given me different perspectives on shot composition - literally. I have on rare occasion taken a photograph that I think "wow - I got the composition right !"  Funnily enough, 2 of my favorites involve my nephew, Heath.

Now for those of you that know Heath, getting him to smile for a photograph can be a tough feat !  And although he appears in both...he didn't need to smile  ;-)

The first was taken up in Sudbury...the Big Nickel gives it away.  Heath is in the foreground, with my niece Haley midway and friends in the background. There is something about Heath's stance in the foreground, the depth of the others behind and the nickel amongst the clouds ... that really appeals to me from a composition point of view.





In the second, you see the shadow of Heath who has scampered up a tree to have a bit of a self-inflicted timeout. In the shadows it looks as if Heath is in the tree head-to-head in discussion with someone else in the tree.  Heath is actually the shadow on the left.

I didn't realize what a cool image I had captured until later.  At which point Heath said, "Well, Aunt Stephanie, if I hadn't gotten so mad, I wouldn't have climbed the tree and you wouldn't have taken that cool photograph - right ?"

Yes Heath ;-)

Automobile Technology

Okay so you all know that I recently purchased a new vehicle. Now what you might not know is that my Santa Fe was 7 years old when taken out by a deer.  And so much has happened in automobile technology since then.

For example, keys no longer exist. Just a fob that you carry in your purse and when you get close enough the car knows you are approaching and the doors unlock. Now I find this very beneficial especially when carrying groceries.

Now to start the car you simply put your foot on the brake and push the on button.  Similarly, when exiting the car you put your foot on the brake and push the button again to turn the car off.  Now the thing is, if you happen to be sitting in the car with it parked (let's say chatting with a girlfriend) and you decide to exit the car, you need to remember to turn it off. As I'm walking away from the car and plan to use the fob to lock it I realized it was still on!  I guess that means it is pretty quiet ;-)

Now another feature of new technology is automatic lights.  Yes - they turn on when needed.  Now I would generally think ok, what's the big deal.  However, after my accident I had to rent a car to continue on with our trip to Ohio and although I thought I turned the lights on, it seems I had only turned on the fog lights.  It wasn't until a "new" Ohio policeman pulled me over did I realize it. (yes another story there).

And then today, I took my car to the touchless car wash.  Yes - I want that sparkly red to stay sparkling.  So the water starts sprinkling on the front window when the window washer jump to life and so do I !!!  YES - they are automatic too.  You can imagine if I can't figure out how to turn lights on, I'm going to take a bit of time to figure how to disconnect the auto-wipe function.  The funny thing is that it's a touchless car wash so it really didn't matter if they kept on wiping ... but if anyone had a hidden camera on me, it was pretty funny.

PS. Of course the forecast is now rain all week long!
Nice clean car - lots of wiper action ;-)

Chapter 1 of the Men in my Life

My Grandfathers were very different men,
but they shared quiet demeanors
and radiant smiles.



My Grandpa Charlie, my mom's dad, grew up in Northern Ontario working in the mines.  I may be biased, but I do believe he was a bit enamoured with his first grandchild ;-)

My memories of Grandpa Charlie include the smell of his pipe tobacco and watching him mix his Metamucil into his orange juice every morning. He loved baseball - playing when he was younger and then watching games on TV.  I fondly remember going to a book signing with him of one of his favorites, Canadian pitcher Fergie Jenkins.  

My Grandpa Joe, my dad's dad, grew up in Calabria, Italy before immigrating to America and staring a family in Pennsylvania.

Grandpa Joe was a man of few words, but I can remember him singing "How dry I am" while sipping on homemade wine.  He was an avid gardener - not allowing anyone in his garden domain and only sharing the fruits of his labour with those that were special to him.

Treasured photos and memories of two wonderful men.

Vertically Challenged

I put the invitation out there to share your quotes with me and my colleague Diana, who is much taller than I am, shared this one which provided the inspiration for tonight's blog.

Yes - I'm a short girl.
5' 2' on a good posture day.

I am however, taller than my sister. Sorry Heather - but it just means you are more perfect ;-)

Let me share some things from the Short Girl vantage point:

• We can get claustrophobic in a mass of people. I sometimes feel like I need my own submarine telescope just to see where I might be headed.
• We are not good at guessing people's height - we don't have have the appropriate reference point - you are all just taller than we are.
• We cannot reach the top shelf in the grocery store without standing on the bottom shelf. (I generally look around for someone taller to help me  - preferably tall, dark & handsome)
• We have to walk twice as many steps as tall people to reach the same destination.(now if you are wearing an activity tracker and tracking your daily steps that can have it's advantages)
• Our feet often do not touch the ground when sitting in a restaurant booth ... and those high bar stools almost require a gymnastic vault run.
• And, judging from my family genetics, I'll probably be nearing 4'8" on my 100th birthday.

Short & Proud !

A Grateful Smile

Okay, now keep in mind that this was a professional photo for our corporate website, but I must say it does capture a great post-orthodontic smile. I am now and will always be forever grateful to my parents for affording me (literally) the opportunity to have dental surgery and orthodontics (including that ever so lovely head gear) to get to this smile. I think your investment paid off !

Now for many years the following pictures only appeared on the "wall of children" in my parents 2nd floor guest room, so chances are, unless you knew me waaaay back when they are new to you. As genetics would have it I received a small mouth from the Drennan side of the equation and large teeth from the Frisina side. So I came by my "Bucky" nickname pretty honestly.

Not that those big protruding teeth kept me from smiling back then, because after all .... 

Coffee or Tea ?

One of the questions I like to ask in my interview process is ...are you a coffee or tea drinker ? There is no right or wrong answer, but I like throwing a curve ball into the serious questions and yes - we do keep track of the trends over time.  Actually the 3pm Starbucks coffee run is part of our DNA at the FUSE Health office.

Growing up in Texas I was an "iced" tea drinker.  Now that is real brewed tea over ice. And in the Texas heat, no boiling water required you simply put tea bags and water into closed containers like these mason jars and let the sun do its work. Sun tea - just pour over ice.

In restaurants in the South when you order tea it is an iced tea default as opposed to the North where it is hot tea - that took some getting used to when I first moved to Toronto.  You may have heard of "sweet tea", and as it sounds - iced tea with lots of sugar. Always too sweet for me, even now if I order an iced tea here in the "North" I order it half sweet.  Yes I'm that person at Starbucks - Iced venti 1/2 sweet black tea ;-).  I'm off iced tea right now because I don't want to be feeding my kidney stone more oxalates - I'd like to pass it before it grows. (another blog to come on kidney stones).

I didn't drink coffee until I moved to Toronto.  Well, let's face it not many hot drinks were required and I moved long before the iced coffee wave.  I started drinking it for the warmth, ironically I hadn't figured out how to bleed my radiators so I was wearing layers and drinking hot beverages.  I did learn the radiator trick but have been drinking coffee ever since.  My Starbucks order for my hot beverage not too bad - Grande Lactose-Free Latte (iced in the summer).

I fully embrace caffeine - I enjoy the smell of brewing coffee, the social aspect of getting together for a coffee and in the heat - a refreshing iced tea quenches the thirst like nothing else.  Not so fussy on hot tea, but perhaps that's for the next 50 years !

Coffee, tea, hot, cold - enjoy it any way you like it :-)

Quotes

I have always loved quotes.  Probably goes along with my love of reading.
Real Simple's Daily Thought is one of the things I enjoy receiving in my e-mail inbox -imagine that !

So tonight I've decided to share a few of my favorites with you.  

... on friends

                                                                        .....on reading

Thanks to a posting on Facebook I have a new definition of optimist ...get out my dancing shoes !

And finally for tonight my new mantra thanks to Pier 1... it has a permanent home on my balcony.

Always looking for new ones, so feel free to share your favorite ones with me.

Raindrops on roses ...

... and whiskers on kittens.  Amongst my favorite things:

1, The Sound of Music - the first movie I remember seeing.  I could sing every word of every song from this album and probably re-enacted many scenes in the basement of our house in Darien. Certainly "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" and "So Long, Farewell" (I also remember a long drive from Cleburne with Nana and Heath and we had to sing "Doe a Deer" over and over so he wouldn't cry.)

2. Music in general.  It might have started with the Sound of Music or earlier.  I have an eclectic music collection and I associate songs with certain people and places.  For example, driving with my sister Heather - "Jack & Diane". "Cecillia" and "Sweet Caroline" - evenings with the Frisinas & Zamiskas at the Carousel in Killarney.

3. The colour green.  It's been my favorite colour since as long as I can remember. It may have changed hues over the years from emerald to forest to lime, but always green.  Shamrocks, mint ice cream, Apple Martinis...these are a few of my favorite things.   Not surprising then that my birthstone is a light green, peridot.

More favorites to come as the countdown continues ...

Yes, I'm a Virgo

Thinking about my astrological sign, I was reminded of a necklace I had years ago, I think maybe purchased from a Hallmark collection.  Imagine my surprise (again) when I Google "Virgo necklaces" and among the images, it pops up.

Well, my taste in jewelry has certainly evolved since then...thanks goodness.

As far as the traits of a Virgo, I think I do indeed possess a few.

Let's see what you think .... I've decided to focus on the positive ones for this post ;-)

1. The Element associated with Virgo is Earth, and in keeping with that, most Virgos are grounded, salt-of-the-earth types.
2. The bane of many Virgos is the perfectionism that can get in the way of their usual clear thinking. 'I'm not a perfectionist; I'm discriminating!' a Virgo would say, happy in the knowledge that their taste is unparalleled. 
3. A Virgo's brain is in overdrive most of the time, which is why they get so much done.
4. Before a Virgo plunges into anything, from a problem to a vacation idea, they need to analyze all the facts and know all the details before they plunge in and make a decision.
5. They need to be so organized in their mind, sometimes all their energy is taken from organizing their mind that they have a difficult time organizing their surroundings

I'm in good company as a Virgo: Mother Teresa, Agatha Christie, Warren Buffett, Jack Daniel (yes, that Jack Daniel), Milton S. Hershey, Sophia Loren, Patsy Cline, Heather Frisina, Heath Frisina, Emily Arnold ...

It explains so much, doesn't it ?  

Off to rest my Virgo brain ... lol 

Source: astrology.com; zodiac-signs-astrology.com; famousbirthdays.com 

Did I say that ?

This topic was suggested to me by a member of my team.  I have been known on occasion (ok, more than I must realize) to use phrases that they have never heard of before.  And because of an unending curiosity (hmmm...wonder where I get that from), I also love to learn where these sayings and phrases originate.  So here is just a sprinkling ...

One of my most common is "don't through the baby out with the bath water".
Thanks to List21.com for this backgrounder.

Meaning: Hang on to valuable things when getting rid of unnecessary things
History: During the 1500s, most people bathed once a year. Even when they did bathe, the entire family used the same tubful of water. The man of the house bathed first, followed by other males, then females, and finally the babies. You can imagine how thick and cloudy the water became by that time, so the infants’ mothers had to take care not to throw them out with the bathwater when they emptied the tub.

PS Thanks for the picture Mom - very timely !




Another oldie but goodie, let's "kill 2 birds with one stone".  When I've researched this one it has a number of stories on derivation - one involving chickens, another involving philosophers.  Now I've often thought that if someone hadn't heard this one before, they might think I have a real dislike for our flying feathered friends. And actually ... when they are chirping at 4am ... they might have a point. 

And I'll finish this post with a saying that to my Canadian acquaintances seems to bring out my Texas background .... well that was a  "pig's breakfast".  Definition from the Urban Dictionary: total mess; mixed up slops.

Just a few for now, more to come as the days unfold .... 
  

If you have a book ....

... you have a friend.  I remember my Aunt Penny telling me that at a young age.  I can also remember eagerly awaiting packages from her ... all the way from New Zealand, often book related.  I hope that I am passing on that similar tradition and memory with my nieces & nephew.

I have always been an avid reader.  I won a reading award in Grade 6 and in junior high school, I was asked to participate in a speed reading course the school was testing.  It worked. I could average 3-4 novels a week in my transit commute via bus, subway and train in my first 8 years of taking mass transit.  In some ways those were the good 'ole days - BT  (before technology).  A train ride = book reading ... no cell phones, no laptop computers, no iPads.  No matter what happened in the workday, I had already racked up some "me" time.

Like many young girls (of my vintage) I started out reading Nancy Drew mysteries.   The Secret of Shadow Ranch and the Password to Larkspur Lane amongst favourites.   So all these years later it's not surprising that mysteries are still my favourite genre.  I am fortunate that my mother shares the same love of mysteries and affinities for the same authors, which leads to "what did you think when ..." discussions and eagerly awaiting the next Elizabeth George novel together.

I still love a "real" book - turning the pages and actually seeing how much farther you've got to go before all is revealed.  And while I appreciate that eReaders are very handy on vacation to lighten the luggage load, I think I will always have a stash of mags and at least one paperback on board with me.

I love that you can immerse yourself in a book and truly escape. Just writing this blog makes me think I need to carve out more time for reading again.  I used to read before bed, but as I get closer to the 50 mark I'm lucky if I don't fall asleep before I hit the pillow... lol

Here's to a little more escapism...at any age !

My long lasting love affair ...

... with shoes, of course.

The earliest recollection of my affair with shoes was saving my quarters (yes, that says quarters) from my babysitting jobs so that I could pay for half of my first pair of Famolare shoes.  For those of you that haven't ever heard of Famolare shoes, here you go,  I think this is a pretty close resemblance to my first pair.  It is amazing what you can google.  Just seeing them again brings back memories. And even though the youngster that I was babysitting got some pretty much the next week I still kept up an infatuation with these wavy heels.

Being barely 5'2", shoes - with heels - have allowed me to creep in the eye sight of some, albeit still short, normal people.  I was just saying at work the other day that I'm really not a good judge of how tall something or someone is because in short (lol) they are just all taller than I am.

As you can see, I have the perfect closet for shoes.  I can remember my mom talking to my niece Haley and having her guess how many shoes I had.  When the answer   was over 100 pairs - Haley had a pretty astonished look on her face!


SO it has been very disappointing that through all the issues with my knee this past few years that I have to relinquish the heels in my closet.  It's ironic that for years I found flats uncomfortable and now that's all I can wear.

I am slowly giving my heels away... and it's a tough process.  With each pair of shoes there are stories and memories that go with them.  Yes mom, I've taken pictures of some before they have left to find new homes.  But there are others that I feel compelled to keep.  Okay maybe I won't always have them on display, but they can still own a part of the closet.

The thing about shoes is that no matter what else is going on with your body they still fit!  And give a bit of a confidence swagger. I will miss slipping into a pair of heels.  Maybe I can try again when I get my knee replacement for my 70th ;-)

Oh well, here's looking at 5'2" !

Why no pets ?

My first pet was a dog my Aunt Mee-Mee got for me.  Her name was Cindy.  Rumour had it she was part wolf.  So not so surprising that I have had a slight fear of dogs all my life.  I remember spending time one summer with my Great Aunt Eunie and her Doberman Pinscher - I believe his name was Prince. I was part of Prince's training.  I was to hold a rolled newspaper and Prince would take it from me. Hmmm ... have you seen a Doberman's teeth !

And then there was Oreo.  I didn't live at home when Oreo came on the scene.  I can't remember him as a cute puppy, but I'm sure he was.  I know he was very loved by the entire family!  And for the most part was relatively friendly with me....until one visit - upon greeting him, his teeth clamped around my thumb.

We had fish growing up too.  No teeth, less scary.  The trouble with our fish was that they tended to leave their bowls.  I distinctly remember one of them - Moses. Yes, he was a jumper, but my bigger memory is that my parents had a burial for Moses - we placed him in a little box and he was buried on the side of the house with a little makeshift cross.    RIP Moses

My sister Heather started out with gerbils.  Rodents as pets ?!?  And yes, if you are wondering, their tails can come off.  Definitely, not for me !  I guess poetic justice that I was cursed with squirrels on my balcony for awhile.

Luckily Heather moved on from rodents to a lovingly adopted puppy dog.  Jake joining the family and has allowed me to once again "give dogs a chance".  After all he's willing to be dressed up (St. Patrick's Day) and posed with babies (cutie Kate).  I enjoy a good visit with Jake when in Texas and with my friendly Canadian 4 legged friends - Buddy & Clancy.  Walking dogs in the snow ... not so much.

Cats - I'm allergic ... enough said.

So really, it's not that surprising that I'm turning 50 pet-free ;-)

Sports in my life...

Well most of you know I am pretty klutzy so you aren't going to be reading here about the sports I play. Although I did have a pretty awesome golf game recently. After all, I am the one that managed to break her wrist after deciding to take up curling on my Northern excursion.  But am an avid fan as my brothers can attest to from the many baseball games I attended.  Even when one of them managed to hit a foul ball out of the park and right through my windshield.  Baseball highlights definitely include the Blue Jays World Series games and Ranger games where the scoreboard would read 10:00PM and 100 degrees !

As a family we often have sports pools be it March Madness or Fantasy Football.  Once we all get in the groove of it...let me tell you the competitive genetic streak comes out! Don't be fooled....Nana & Poppy are sharks !

I attended my first CFL game on Saturday - thank-you Ted, Jackie & Emily.  Emily had the choice to take one of her friends or me and chose me 'because I knew more about football'.  Well I do know a bit about the game and can confirm that I am still an avid NFL lover.  Actually the reason I finally went to a big screen TV from my 20 inch was for football season.  Like the rest of my Texas family (that's me & my sister Heather) we are pretty diehard Cowboy fans.  I even did a tour of the new JerryWorld stadium for one of my 40 something birthdays.  Cool stadium.  Football in the summer ... only in Canada !

Honestly, regardless of the season,  I'm glad I have a love of sports because there is no age limit to being a fan :-)

Go Cowboys !

Behind every good woman....

... is an invaluable hair dresser.  Mine is Jim Ellis, fellow Virgo,  who has been cutting and colouring my tresses for almost half of my 50 years.  We have been through a variety of adventures - work, men (his & mine) and hair - short, long, curly, straight (literally overnight 2 years ago - that was a weird one), up-dos, extensions, and he will continue to cover my grey so I can stay looking 39 forever :-)


A fond memory ....one night I was flying in from the West to fly out the next day (for work no doubt) and I had the last appt of the day with Jim.  I told him I would come straight from the airport. The plane landed (late), it was pouring rain and I got to my car and the tire was flat :-(.  I called Jim nearly in tears (you know that feeling ladies - I HAVE to get my hair done) and he said I'll be here whenever you get here don't worry.  We ordered in dinner from next door and I think finished up by 11pm.  He's an awesome guy. And at the rate I'm going grey I'll be seeing him more often in these next 50 years !

My locks thank-you,
Stephanie

Blazing towards 50 !

Welcome - it's officially the countdown to my 50th birthday !

I've invited y'all to follow my birthday blog because each of you have been an important part of  my journey to 50. Over the next fifty days, I plan to share .... stories, pictures, some of my favorite quotes...you get the idea. I have never blogged before so you are also part of a bigger experiment :-) and I thank-you all in advance for your participation.

Many of you know I've just recently purchased a new vehicle which I picked up on Friday. I decided on red because what the heck ...why not move into the next half of my life blazing !  And I am loving driving my new CX5.

So let's enjoy this ride together .... you never know where the bends in the road to 50 might take us.

Still 49,
Stephanie