November found me flying to Vancouver and on to Crescent Beach to Mickey and Gordon’s home to celebrate their daughter Michelle’s 50th birthday …what a fun blast of a weekend … I met Michelle when she was barely four years old ….. aah these milestone birthdays that mark the passage of time. The eighties theme party was a sea of aerobics instructors, Village people, Forest Gump characters, rockers, even Tom Selleck made an appearance and ahh yes, our girl of the hour, Molly Ringwald 😂

A Gablecraft Christmas party in early December marks my second year in Kelowna … a great evening, full of good cheer. Happy I had the good sense to sign up for the Social Committee as it was a lot of fun organizing the party with the other five ladies … felt good to be part of a community once again. A few days later, I bid adieu to my new neighbours and head back to Calgary for a busy December, full of kids Christmas concerts, birthday parties, family dinners and of course Christmas festivities.

It is not always an easy transition to leave the old behind, be it locale, friendships or your favourite coffee shop to embrace the new at any age but particularly at my age! I am working on weaving all these fibres into this tapestry that is my life, a life that has at times held more complexity than I may have wished for but the threads are gradually softening and evolving into a simpler pattern, more in tune with the emerging me of recent years.

I fly into Calgary’s frigid temps from a Kelowna that has appeared to live on the fringe of winter these past few years … lots of snow with minus two temps but hardly the typically warm Okanagan winters of bygone years, when one had to drive to Big White Ski Resort to catch a glimpse of winter. Despite Calgary’s blistering -25C, Alberta’s welcoming wide open blue skies make the temps bearable but barely 🙃. Spending time at Sarah and Rob’s home with my grandchildren trumps all! Oliver’s third birthday set the stage for the weekend. Sarah had opted for a yoga/meditation party for Oliver … this is a relatively new addition on the party horizon … hope the trend continues. Hullabaloo has its place but quiet is nice too. My sister Margaret and nephew Jordan arrive for the weekend … a weekend full of fun brunches, dinners, visits and parties. Thrown into the mix was a surprise party for my nephew Bruce’s 50th birthday hosted by his new partner Rebecca and sister Susan… the family continues to evolve and grow.

Warms my heart to see Oliver and Aliana love building and playing with this old train set … it used to be a favourite of their mom and Uncle Timmy’s thirty years ago! Happy it survived storage in a Rubbermaid over the decades 🙂

Christmas as well, is evolving in our family. It seemed quiet with Tim and Liseanne in the Philippines. Sarah and Rob masterfully managed to keep Christmas gift mania of past years to a minimum …. I say it every year … little kids do not need a zillion gifts!! … it so very obviously overwhelms them, as it should anyone. But we live in this consumer based society … what is a grandma to do? Even though I continue to cut back, I still contribute to that pile of stuff that accumulates every Christmas … Well, what to do? … sit back and enjoy and repeat my daily mantra … ‘we are an evolving society’ …. everything in its own time 🎄🙃Fitting end to a wonderful year …. dancing! …. posting a fun video I took of Oliver and Aliana dancing to Hawaiian music in their makeshift Christmas light disco that they set up and decorated together 🙂