Ten Years ago Today!

Ten years ago Today

An ugly intimidation, a scary situation
He came at me wielding a hose
Eyes of fire a stranger now
He was a man I didn’t know
Anger and oblivion to what may transpire
He forced his way at me, screaming words of ire
I begged and pleaded for reprieve, which he refused to heed
He continued to threaten and berate, refusing to concede
He held my head to the nozzle, its pressure full and strong
I thought that he may drown me, and the terror carried on
I tried to shift his legs, so I could escape and run
He avoided my fateful tries, I was sure that he had won
My brain was rushing in survival mode, calculating what to do
Not a violent thought within, I was afraid of what might ensue
The harder that I struggled, the meaner the man became
With no choice I kneed him, I was sure he’d become insane
He dropped the hose and pummeled me, then kicked me in the gut
A primal scream evoked, as I fell to the aggregate
Anguish that I’d never known, as a switch clicked in my head
Finale to those hopes and dreams, with the marriage finally dead
He turned and walked into the house and made a can of soup
Left me soaked from head to toe, unable to regroup
Neighbors rallied to rescue me, in my humiliated state
Disoriented from the blows, fumbling open the locked gate
Police came in droves and took charge of my life
No longer his victim, I refused to be his wife
More embittered than before, he harassed us for years to come
Manic in his attitude, more court dates to succumb
Ten years past, ten years gone, it seems like yesterday
The way my life's evolved since then, I’d have no other way
Solace fills my heart now, and not a day did I regret
Never missed him for a second, but I’ll not forget!

Sherrie Leesa

This was only the start of an extremely difficult year of court battles and harassment. Fortunately my child did not witness this incident; however she has witnessed many other types of abuse. She was the biggest victim in the whole situation. Over the years he finally settled down. I think it’s possible he was forced to get help. Although I have nothing to do with the man, she still falls prey to his dramas and narcissistic attitude. It took my child time to build a bridge into a partially functioning relationship, which I assure you didn’t come without sacrifice on her part. Now as an adult, she is less forgiving of his constant unbending attitude and insensitive ways. My biggest disappointment in life is that he wasn’t the father I thought him to be. There are so many good things about the man which I am blessed to see in my child. Unfortunately a lot of the ugliness seems to trump it all, as he continues to hurt her. My child is adamant about becoming successful and strives to overcome the adversity! It’s just sad that her dad is such a huge void in her life, not by our choice either.

Friends on the boat

Mother and Son Check out the necklace Laura made!
Me with Katie and Taylor



Goddesses adrift
Ever notice how girls really do "just want to have fun?"


My friend and I snuggle together and attempt to
take our own picture. Giggling at the contortions we go through to make it happen.

Both single moms after long term marriages, we find peace in not being married for the moment. Who knows what the future will bring. For now we, enjoy the solace of independence.

Celebration of Light Cruise

I was fortunate enough to be invited on a cruise for the celebration of lights Saturday night. This is my second wonderful trek onto the water to see the fireworks. What an amazing night! We enjoyed a barbeque dinner, delicious appetizers, and every genre of music with a neighbourhood of passionate party people.

Last year the kids jumped off the boat to swim. With a final reprieve from the hot spell this year, the kids didn’t bother with an evening mid ocean dunk. They danced up a storm instead. The galley roof was swaying as they jumped to the tunes.

Before dinner we cruised in search of the Ted Turner owned Yacht the GEORGIA, docked at the Coal Harbour Marina. Apparently it’s been here for a few months. Not much of a celebrity hound, my insatiable curiosity to find material for my blog ignited my interest enough to take pictures. With my keyboard and google search at hand, I am so glad I did.
One of the men on the cruise suggested the anchor for the yacht was probably worth more than his house. We all chuckled, while I jested that I would clean the bathrooms, or make Ted a Thai salad for a peek inside! Rescued from the humility of being the lavatory lady, I found a cyber tour of the Georgia instead.

Later that evening spotted in Vancouver water was the Serenade of the Seas cruise ship. It was amazing to be motoring in water so close to the majestic mass. People peeked out the port holes of the lit up ship,and waved down at our bellowing boat of dancers. Even a picture could not express the feelings of grandiose we all felt being right next to a decorated ship of that magnitude. We furiously waved and screamed greetings at all the passengers who peered and waved back.

Chinas presentation of fireworks was beautiful and the finale was one of the largest displays I have ever seen, although some of the color combinations weren’t my favorite.

Around midnight the night ended with a small trickle of rain hitting the deck. We all quickly boarded the charter bus, and many of the partiers turned into pumpkins on the ride home.

My Yard

Rejection

She holds many of my secrets
In a land I no longer know
She holds many of my memories
In a place I can no longer go
She still holds my love,
It’s lucid and large and lasting
Ache creeps in and insists
I attempt emotional fasting
Unaware of my perplexed state
Or my trickles of dejection
She often uses salted actions
Sprinkled on wounds of rejection
Shattered shards of hopes and dreams
Trashed with disregard
Rejection, a grueling impediment
When it keeps playing in your yard

written by Sherrie Leesa

More Siblings

Even with a two year age difference Taylor and Katie are not only close siblings, they are best friends! Katie can be heard saying "look at my brother, isn't he the best!"

This is my baby brother five years younger than me! We are concrete Siblings who adore and respect each other, despite our differences. Sherrie 50 Darcy 45

Concrete Siblings

Pictured here are eight of ten siblings.
A wonderful warm group of amazing people who adore each other implicitly! Each one makes a genuine effort to make every family gathering, and get along famously when they're together!

Bryan, Dave,

Concrete Siblings

Serendipitous gathering of siblings

Celebrating gregariously

Chortling away at insider jokes

Of past and present

Savoring privy information

Passionately preoccupied

Consciously, compassionate

Intimately abundant

Quipping cordially

Encouraging accomplishment

Challenging disappointment

Soberly Supportive

Solid, structured suggestions

Innovatively bonded

A Lovingly loyal

Longevity

More Cafe deux Soleils

When was the last time you did something for the first time? An interesting query. Certainly less redundant than " have you gone out of your box today?"












Local art displayed on the walls at Cafe deux Soleils.

"It's amazing how much our intentions and perceptions create our reality." was written on the door of the bathroom stall. Just a little more of the universe speaking to me.
Sweltering heat made me a little irritable yesterday, as I waited patiently while my daughter got her hair streaked. No happytiler here, more like a grumpy lumpy!

As soon as I cooled down the happytiler reincarnated!








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Cafe Deux Soleils

Last night we attended "The Happening's" band concert at the "Cafe Deux Soleils". Even though it's a somewhat grungy atmosphere and the vegetarian food was mediocre, the venue however is a large supporter of the arts. Almost every night is packed with either a poetry slam or some type of entertainment. Fun art from local artist's fills the restaurant, a great diversion from the filthy walls and dirty bathroom. It’s a pretty funky place, really no different than a favorite bar when the lights come on at closing. I am pretty partial to ambience, so unless I was going there for a specific event I doubt that I’d return. On a lighter note "The Happening" played their best concert ever. I had shrills of goosebumps through every song, which is my gage for excellence. I also had tears for one song. All of which is a rare occurrence!

Duchenne Smiles

Duchenne smiles are produced from genuine emotion! I spliced together smiles of all the people I love to form a collage. Everyone is having a merry old time....at least on paper they are!

Happiness "The Highest Good"

Aristotle considered happiness "The Highest Good."

Please excuse the odd formatting on my blog lately. Recently Blogger has been extremely finicky. I’m sure the glitches will improve eventually.

Saturday evening I watched a documentary called “In pursuit of happiness”. Interviewed were many happy people and their perspectives on happiness. These interesting elements seem to factor into the happiness quotient.

Optimism
Gratefulness
friends
family
goals
helpful …volunteering and such
savor life

My friend’s ex sister-in-law was one of the participants in the program. She’s a wheel chair laden single mother, who has phenomenally raised two boys alone with not a great deal of help or money. Still, she’s managed to have overcome adversity and has a wonderful perspective on life. I would imagine how you handle adversity is probably a huge deciding factor to being happy.

It was interesting to see how people from a higher economic scale aren’t necessarily happier than those on the lower end of the financial spectrum. I concluded that happiness really is a state of mind and that one needs connection to others, a optimistic grateful perspective on life and to feel they have purpose in order to be happy.

Professor Sonja Lyunbomirsky asks these questions 1) What makes people happy? ; 2) Is happiness a good thing?; 3) How can we make people happier still? For more about happiness check out the following links.

The Happiness Show

Authentic Happiness

Happiness Heart Quotes

Goddesses at art in the park

Laura, Barb, Chris Laura, Sherrie, Chris


Yesterday I attended the Arnold Mikelson Festival of the Arts with my goddesses. Sprawling forest, filled with captivating Artists and their exhibits. Exorbitant heat, beat down through the branches; as we ambled through, conversing with the talented people along the way.

I’d been reluctant to go this year. The last few years I found the vendors had become redundant, too many insipid landscapes, boring pottery without variance, crafters fraught with outdated button covers and unstylish earrings. Imagine my surprise to see some new flavor added to the festival this year. We spoke with an older female artist, selling the funkiest felt purses , in a blazon of colors. She agreed that some older crafters often waste their talent creating unattractive products, with unappealing, outdated materials.

We reveled in the words of a high school teacher Scott Gordon nick named the giraffe man, whose use of humor and color was inspiring. We met an older male more classic artist Dennis Magnusson who until three years ago was entrenched in the world of high tech, new to his talent, he now paints phenomenal larger than life flower portraits in vibrant colors.

One of our favorite encounters was with the lovely Melissa Nue-Lee , a self confident young mother and brilliant artist who paints with incredible passion. She was an articulate vivacious individual, who mesmerized us, with not only her paintings, but her words as well! Comparing her passion during the creative process, to that of butterfly flutters expressed while in the throws of love. There were many other amazing artisans at the festival, those were just a notable few for the day.

Rushed for time, the goddesses’ toodled off to find Nicci’s Studio opening. It was a quick, in and out, as Laura had to pick up her daughter from work. I originally hoped to stay and chat with Nicci, meet her husband, and take a few photos.


Laura parked on an extraordinarily unique drift wood and rod iron chair.

Goddess Picnic on the Beach!

Barb,Chris, Laura and Sherrie.


Nothing too good for the goddesses, we had candles flickering soon after susnset, at the envy of all the Crescent Beach onlookers.





I hesitated to edit these pictures, which look very gothic. Instead I chose to leave us looking like mysterious goddesses gathering in the night.






Laura's delicious iced angel food cake, served with blueberries and cool whip was quickly melting in last night’s extreme heat!








Janice seemed to enjoy the celebration of her thirty fifth birthday, as did we


Warm right up until midnight, we almost had a police escort off the beach, as a very sweet young woman officer answered a call that people were camping on the shore. She was notably relieved to find only a gathering of peaceful goddesses, packed up and on their way home, soon after a conversation of quantum physics. How threatening could that be? It was hard to vacate the beach knowing our homes had endured escalating heat over the evening, rendering them sweat boxes.

Lots has changed with this group over the years, yet its always fun to connect and make merry!

On the way home we drove by a movie set in White Rock. The equipment was phenomenal! There was a bustle of people everywhere, working into the night. I'm sure the heat has adverse affects on production, making it more difficult to shoot during the day. Apparently Danny Devito is filming the movie "Deck the Halls" with Mathew Brodrick due out in November.It was amazing to see a huge house decked out in fake snow on some of the hottest days in summer!!!

Thrift store Vase

The cable guy came to check out my computer yeaterday! What a pain, I keep getting booted off every couple hours; it’s a quick procedure to get back on, but so annoying. Also it takes hours for a post to show up on my blog. What’s with that? It sure makes the editing difficult, no room for mistakes. Blogger picture downloads have been complex too!

These are three pictures I created on the computer paint program as rough drafts for a larger version that I want to do for my loft. I was experimenting with different color combos. The paint program doesn't give me the exact colors I am aiming for. The idea for this piece of art to be, was inspired by a vase I got at a thrift store for two dollars. I love the color combinations. Not the usual colors that attract my eye. The shape and the pattern really drew me in! It has an unnoticeable pinhole chip on the top, really no big deal for something that sits right above my computer and gives me great pleasure.