Come Together

Yesterday my Facebook status read...

There are some places you can go and totally be yourself ~ no expectations and no judgement. Last night was one of those nights so thank you Tracey for hosting our little girls reunion and thanks to Susan, Krista, KellieAnn, Tammy, Kim & Laurie for showing up ~ sharing stories and making us all laugh ~ what a wonderful group of friends. — feeling blessed.

I have talked about this group of friends before

they are the ones that you love to see ~ not just to play

"remember when"

but to invest in their lives ~ find out what is new

how are the folks, the kids, the pets

sharing stories

I always say thank goodness for FB for helping us keep in touch

and plan gatherings like this one and the lunch date I had last month

Kim, Sue, Kellieann, Krista, Tracey, Lori & Tammy out front

I got all sappy at one point of the evening and said

you know ~ I wasn't worried about having to have my nails done

or my hair coloured

I could come here in sweats and know that I would be welcomed

with open arms

we have seen each other at our best and our worst

in happy times and sad ones

we have wiped away tears and baby spit up

we talked about everything under the sun

who have you seen?  do you know where so and so is now?

music ~ what are you listening to?

tv shows ~ don't you just love Deacon on Nashville?

and of course we did a LOT of reminiscing as well

I have a hat box full of trinkets from my 17 years of working here

and leave it to Kellieann to dig into it and surprise us all out in the gazebo

with a little impromptu fashion show

this is Laurie ~ closest thing I had to a big sister for a whole lotta years

she was my manager ~ my mentor ~ my friend

she was the one that would give me an 11 am wakeup call on Sunday mornings

when I was a carefree single living on my own

good times ~ good times

I miss that we do not see each other that often anymore

but with 2 kids ~ involved in sports ~ well there you have it

she does have a new puppy so we talked about a dog park date soon!

we missed a few that were able to make it last time but not this one

and a few that were planning to come but couldn't

the only way to remedy that is to have another one sooner than later

looking at these pictures make me smile

I truly am blessed.

xo

The Women That Made Me ~ Eaton's Girls

This will be the last in my series

and I am a little sad to see it end

fittingly enough ~ I have saved this bunch of girls for last.

I started working in retail in a big department store

when I was high school

the tender age of 17

and ended up working my way up the ladder

from part time to full time

to department head then to one of the management team

we were always the "young ones" and I had many mother figures

to teach me and guide me along the way

sadly a lot of them are gone and I have no pictures

so if only for myself I will mention their names

as they all taught me oh so much...

Dora, Emily, Phyllis, Doris, Alice, Connie, Rose

Shirley, Vicky, Vera, Sandy & Rae

Thank You ~ from the bottom of this big old heart!

xoxoxo

And now I will introduce you to some of these girls

"the young ones"

we all grew up together

learned together ~ had fun together

this is Laurie ~ she was one of my managers

and she became like a big sister to me

we do not see each other nearly enough now

but the bond is still there along with a big hug

this is Kim ~ I call her Kimby

she is one of my closest friends still today

we have been through a lot together

both good and bad

Lori ~ we could cry you a river

we are both saps when it comes to sad songs, movies or commericals!

KellieAnn is my singing sister

another Kim ~ she was always the voice of reason

and the best person to get advice from

this was our last day

Sue, Andrew, Connie, Linda & Kim

when the store closed in 1999

it was a sad day ~ but looking back on it today

I know that everything happens for a reason

every one of these girls mentioned above was at our wedding

love this shot of Kelly, Lori, myself, Kimby and Andrea

I always said that I am thankful for Eaton's

as it brought so many wonderful people into my life

a few years ago we had a little girls reunion

and man did we ever have fun

you know these are the girls that I can be totally myself with

we have all seen the good, bad and the ugly

and came out the other end

b: me, Kim, Tracey, Laurie, KellieAnn, Krista, Linda & Connie

f: Tammy, Sue & Kimby

it takes more effort to get together now

but when the planets align and it does happen

it is the best feeling ever

we catch up on each other's news

reminisce about the old times

and then sing and dance the night away

pure happiness.

Thank you so much for all the comments on my little series

if you missed any of them you can check them out below.

xo

Mom

Grammy B

Grammy S

Aunt Francie

Aunt Jeanne

Aunt Dot

Barb

Lakeville Girls

The Women that Made Me ~ Lakeville Girls

I could not have this series

and not mention the friendships that have been with me

basically since the beginning

Meet Rocky (Roxanne), Robyn and Tracey

these girls are my oldest friends

and we are talking elementary school long

I have known Robyn & Tracey since 1971

yeah ~ we are that old!

Robyn & Lori 1981

 this is Robyn & I back in high school

someone dared us to get our picture taken with Santa

yeah ~ don't dare us to do anything!

we started school together

rode each other's bikes

played tag and skipped rope

through the years we grew up together

and did everything together

we were the 3 musketeers

Lori & Tracey 1988

Rocky came into the picture in elementary school as well

a year younger than us ~ and lived a bit further down the road

so I think it was high school when we got close

and created the bond that we still have to this day

Lori & Rocky 2010

this shot was taken at her daughter's wedding in 2010

and is still one of my favourites of the two of us

she became a grandmother this past weekend

and I could not be happier for her

these are the girls that taught me what the word friend really means

we have to the moon and back ~ we really have

celebrated successes ~ marriages ~ births

and we have hugged and dried tears in low times

if I needed anything

any time of day

these are numbers I could call

without thinking twice

and that my friends

is the best feeling ever.

I love these girls.

xo

Friday Potpourri

This has been a week of reconnecting

face time

girlfriends

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Monday night was dinner with girls I used to work with

these are kindred spirits ~ we grew up together

have been through so much together 

learned about life together

and I love when we go out to dinner ~ catch up on each others lives

we can be ourselves ~ true blue friends

I love these girls

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then last night another dinner

with another group of girlfriends

talking about kids (them) ~ furry kids (me)

remembering the good times

falling back into the familiar

it is a good thing ~ it really is

via

Christmas shopping is on my mind

I finally have some ideas from family

so I have started my list and now have 2 gifts bought

via

a few little projects lined up for the week-end

along with a new recipe to try

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Sunday will be a day to pause
and reflect
and most of all ~ remember those that fought for us
so we can live in a free country today

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Have a wonderful week-end.

xo

Happy Monday!

While out driving yesterday

I was disappointed to see

the trees are almost totally bare ~ naked

ready for old man winter

although I am not

the weather has been incredible

so warm that we are just bracing ourselves

for that first blast of cold air

which we all know is coming

game night was a success

good friends ~ good food and fun

what a great way to spend a Saturday night

Sunday afternoon was coffee with my cousin

planning ~ what cookies to make for Christmas this year

we came up with 3 kinds ~ shortbread, almond fingers and birdsnests

yummy yummy yummy!

I will also make gumdrop and date cookies

I need those!

this week is going to be a busy one

although I have no big holiday meal to plan

I am meeting with my book club girls tonight

then with my forever girlfriends on Thursday night

figure I will call them that since we have been together

since we were 5 years old

so it's almost forever....

I have Friday off ~ my last vacation day of the year

and I have plans ~ I do have plans for that.

Hope you all had the kind of week-end

that put a spring in your step

and a smile on your face.

Happy Monday!