Relationships between man and woman

Ah, such an interesting topic and one dear to my heart!

I would love to start a discussion on this issue and comments are more than welcome. E-mail comments are also much appreciated for those who cannot figure out how to make comments on blogs. It is so difficult sometimes and faster to send an e-mail!

In fact, it should be quite an interesting topic as men and women think very differently and their expectations are very different..

Speaking as a woman and how I think, if a gentleman is interested in me, then he should show his interest in actions as well as words.

If he is interested in getting to know me, he could invite me for a coffee or for a meal and pay for it. The money is not the issue here, I can afford to pay for myself but it is his willingness to spend from what he has, on me. If he is a poor man, he could be creative and think of ways to show his interest and not spend over what he can afford.

I really don't believe in this Dutch Treat business when it comes to a relationship. I also don't believe in taking advantage of his generosity either and would try and suggest reasonable priced places to go which would definitely include free concerts, picnics in the park, walks, joining groups together etc. etc.


To repay, I would try and do little things for him which I hope he will be wise enough to realize that I am pulling my own weight in the relationship. (In this case, it sure is a lot of weight to pull!)

I also may even cook him a good meal, if it is a special occasion such as a birthday or some special occasion for him.

A relationship is something that builds in trust over a period of time and well worth the effort. I have noticed that the best relationships in people that I know, have been with people who have similar interests, backgrounds and built on trust for each other.

Those are my two cents worth - what is your opinion? Jump in, have fun and I particularly would like to hear the male side of the issue.

This could become a real interesting debate. Hopefully it will brighten up a dull February day or week!

Annual Meeting at St. John's

Random snapshots at the dinner tables.

One section of the downstairs hall.

On February 8th, 2009, St. John’s Lutheran Church held its annual meeting after the joint English/German church service.

After the business was concluded, the congregants went downstairs to enjoy a lovely meal of home made chicken soup and sandwiches. For desert, scrumptious , melt in your mouth delicacies were served along with coffee and herbal tea.

The ladies of E.L.W. (women's group) once again have surpassed themselves in preparing this delicious meal.

Retirement Dinner

My friend Kevin and Dr. Dickey

The Head Table - Dr. Dickey is the one in the middle.

On Saturday night, it was the retirement dinner of Dr. Jim Dickey at St. Paul's. It was very well attended and his whole family came from all parts of the country. The ladies of the church prepared a lovely turkey dinner with all the trimmings and apple strudel with ice cream. Of course, tea and coffee ended the meal as usual.

Three guest speakers were invited to attend and speak about him and his life work and they did a tremendous job. One of the men even composed a nice poem all about Dr. D!

It was great to see how well attended the event was and to hear all the good wishes being sent his way.

I hope that his retirement will be a good one and he will find lots of things to interest him. He is a very intelligent man, a great writer and was the Editor, for some time, of the Presbyterian Record magazine.

I particularly will miss his sense of humour!

Shall I stay, or shall I go???

My sense of humour has gotten me in hot water twice, so far, on Facebook. Each time it was with people I don't know and who do not know me. I have apologized both times in order to keep the peace and perserve harmony and tried to explain to the unknown person that I was just joking. The actual person I was addressing the remark to, should know me well enough to know that I was just joking. I even put "joke, joke" at the end of the remark so there would be no misunderstanding.

I am upset that my joke has been interpreted by an unknown person to me , in the wrong way.

I like Facebook very much but I do not like the fact that strangers to me (friends to others) are judging me wrongly (in this case only).

Perhaps I am overreacting, but I am quite upset right now.

I am thinking of getting off Facebook and yet, I love being able to keep in touch with long distance friends and family.

I don't like to ruffle feathers, so to speak, but mine were ruffled today!!!

Ricky Valens

I was watching Vision TV last night and they had the life story of Ricky Valens on. I remember his songs and his voice and knew a little bit abit about his life story but this movie painted a better picture for me. It was such a sad story, in some ways, and yet a story of real love. The love of a son for his Mom and the love of a girl who was forbidden to him by her father.

This young man showed his love for his Mom by buying her a house to live in where she would be safe and secure after her difficult life.

He expressed his deep love of the girl by writing a song about her - "Donna"

I found it such a moving story that I was in tears in part of it. The one son taking drugs and alcohol and acting out, and the other son choosing the path of music to express his feelings.

Such a contrast in the two boys.

When Ricky Valens was killed in the plane crash, the other son, Bobby, finally matured and took responsibility seriously.

I could see why he was acting out. He felt unappreciated and in the shadows of his talented brother. He felt that his Mom loved Ricky more than him.

How lucky are people who can express their emotions through the writing of poetry, stories, songs or can paint pictures.

My son writes songs and sings them, at one time he had thought of writing stories, but song writing became more appealing to him. I encouraged him by sending him for voice lessons when he was much younger.

My daughter, also, has a nice voice and enjoys music to this day. Music was always a big part of our home life when my children were growing up.

Due to Ricky Valens Mexican heritage on his mother's side, music most likely was a great part of his identify and influenced him in his very early days.

In my view, this young man was lost to this world too young. He had a lot to offer.

I hope to be able to watch Vision TV tonight at 9 p.m. to see the movie about Buddy Holly.

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Oscar Peterson

Today some friends and I met at Central Library to see a movie on this famous jazz player.

Although it was a really cold day again today, some of us managed to get there to enjoy this wonderful story of this famous Canadian.

The movie showed footage of his early Montreal days when he lived with his Mom and Dad and siblings in St. Henri which is a working class neighbourhood in Montreal, Quebec.

He was born in August 1925 and died in December of 2007.

His Dad was a sleeping car porter for the railroad which was how he supported his family. At that time, it was very difficult for black people to get work in the 1940's.

His Dad seemed to have had a very powerful influence on Mr. Peterson all the days of his life and just shows what a huge influence parents have on their children.

There were times in this factual story, when I had tears in my eyes as I saw the injustices done to non-white people by discrimination and outright violence.

As a young girl, I can remember travelling in the Southern United States and seeing signs on restaurants which said "Dogs and negroes not allowed". I also remember, while boarding a bus in Washington, D.C. and going for an available back seat, being told by a very nice black man who could see I was not from there, that I was not to sit there.

Even as a very young girl, I felt those injustices done and still find so many prejudices which seperate people from each other, whether it be in faith, creed or colour.

I think what upset me so much was when I saw that Mr. Peterson was turned away from the Ritz Carlton in downtown Montreal due to his colour.

We, in Canada, are not exempt from our prejudices, I am very sad to say.

I would heartedly recomment this picture to anybody who may be interested to learn about a great Canadian musician.

Weekend in Toronto, Ontario

Cutting her cake -Sonia and Rene bought this lovely ice cream cake!

Wilma, Margaret, Sonia and Eunice - rene took this picture.

Margaret, Eunice and Sonia at the table.

The birthday lady - showing the gifts I brought her. The CD and the necklace, bracelet and earings, plus Princess, her much loved dog.

It was a cold, but nice weekend as I stepped out of my door and pulled my little red suitcase behind me. Clickity, clack, clickity clack, along we went for our six or seven minute walk to the Go Terminal on Hunter Street.

For some unexplicable reason, I was early and as I went onto the bus platform, I saw the Toronto bus sitting there ready to be loaded.

My little red suitcase and I trotted over to the short line up and waited for the driver to come back. As I looked back, I saw the line grow bigger and bigger as more people came. I was glad that I was one of the first in line as I would get the seat near the driver.

One big heave and my little suitcase was put into the "hold" on the side of the bus. The next hurdle was to get up those narrow and windy stairs. Each muscle which I never knew I had; protested about this injustice to them, as cane in hand, handbag looped over my neck, I clambered aboard the waiting bus. Gone are the days I can gracefully get into a bus or a car!

The ride in was uneventful, passing Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga and then finally into Toronto and the downtown area.

The place where Wheeltrans picks up passengers is under the clock at Front and Bay which is about a five minute walk from the Go Station.

I was early so found a cozy little spot in the quieter part of Union Station and had a coffee and read my little pocket book about cat adventures.

The rules in Toronto for Wheeltrans is that the passenger has to be outside waiting for half an hour under the clock at Union Station so as you can imagine, I was quite cold.

I qualify still for Wheeltrans in Toronto as I had it before, so was very lucky to be able to keep it even when I moved away. The fare is the same as a regular Toronto bus ticket.

For those who may not know what Wheeltrans is, it is a specialized service for people with disabilities. People using walkers, scooters, wheelchairs get picked up at their homes and brought to their destinations. In the case of Toronto's Wheeltrans service, one has to call the day ahead and hope to get a ride.

Calling from Hamilton almost ensures that you get a ride as they service out of town people and deaf people on that line. I learned a valuable lesson one time, I should book my return trip while in Hamilton, otherwise I and hundreds of other people will be trying to get a ride and may not succeed.

It happened to me once that I had to remain at my friend's place for two days before I could get a ride back down to Union Station to return to Hamilton.

A mini-van, with a ramp, picked me up - a very pleasant driver who was so very helpful to me, helping me over a snow bank and taking my suitcase from me. Those things really mean a lot to me.

I arrived at my friend Margaret's early as I was the lone passenger this time. Normally, there may be other passengers who are going in the same direction but this time, I was alone.

What a blessing it is to have Wheeltrans still. I could not climb the stairs in the subway with my suitcase.

Sonia and Rene arrived about 2 p.m. and Eunice came later Sonia and Rene had insisted that they go to the Mandarin and buy lunch for everybody which was very gracious of them.

We had a lovely time and chatted together. As always, I took the pictures and have already sent them to be developed at Japan Camera in the mall.

The next day, Margaret and I spent a quiet time until the Van came to pick me up. This driver was extremely talkative. He and his wife had seven children, all of which went to University here in Canada and all are doing well. They are from Somalia. His Grandmother and Mother-in-Law live with them in a big house which they bought.

I really enjoyed talking and listening to him and in my view, he has done extremely well. It was a great arrangement really, two parents working, children being looked after by the grandmothers who also looked after the cleaning and the cooking.

It just shows what a cohesive family group can do if they all pull together.

The bus going home was so crowded, with people standing and I was thankful I got a seat in the very back.

All in all, a very nice weekend.