Friday, November 16, 2012

Trying to access my page

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

My Opinion about the Furor over the Death of Jack Layton.

Shame on you Canadians for jumping all over Christie Blatchford for her recent column about the semi-hysterical attitude that has become the public's reaction to Jack Layton's death. I am speaking as an average Canadian who did not vote for the NDPs in the last election. Maybe..... to be so consumed with public grief...I would need to have been one of his supporters.
Christie...Thank you very much for voicing in a thoughtful and balanced voice....the distaste that you felt and I am feeling over the crocodile tears expressed by many members of this nation. We didn't all vote for him....so why is the grief so out of proportion? Why are people grieving as they would for a close friend or family member? Likely... because he sat in many of our living rooms as he debated and courted us through the last election....I watched him.
Not all of us feel more than a fleeting sorrow over the death of a man who seemed very vital....in his personal and professional life....he was driven. My perspective on this whole affair has not been to lament loudly and publically but to speak quietly with my daughter and husband about feeling regret for another family who has to pick up the pieces of their life and rearrange and puzzle out a new "normal' for themselves. This is hard. I know this because we lost our child almost 5 years ago and are still seeking peace..
There is no question that Jack Layton captured and fired up his supporters with his vim and vigor and yes...his ambition to put the National Democratic Party as near to the top of Canadian Politics as he could. He accomplished what no other NDP leader had ever done. Against all odds...he made the NDP the official Opposition. That earns my admiration and incredulity but I personally did not know him. I believe that many Canadians were still swept up in his enthusiasm and vitality from the election and now they are so very shocked that this seemingly hale and hearty man should be struck down so quickly. It happens in the best of families.
None of us want to think that we could deteriorate so fast and die. I was frankly shocked at his appearance in late July and his frailty but if I had thought about it ...more than in passing...I was probably sure that he would defeat the cancer as he did before. That was just one short month ago.
I do believe though Ms. Blatchford ...that your timing sucked. If you had waited a week or two or a month or more....the reception to your viewpoint might not have been so harsh. No... I don't believe that either. When anyone dies....nobody wants to ever say anything bad or critical of them...even if it is the truth. It almost feels like tempting fate....like bad luck.
I also do not buy into everything that John Moore says here.

Monday, August 22, 2011

3rd Attempt at Lead Implantation to Bionic Woman

Just a catch up notice....November 4th, 2010....my ICD fired with no warning. Feeling like I was kicked in the chest...my first thought.....I was electrocuted??? How? Why? Then it hit me....no....it was the defibrillator! In total shock...instead of calling 911...I attempted to reach my husband by phone at work and it took them over 15 minutes to find him hiding away in a front office.
He came rushing home and got there about 30 minutes later....so far so good....I was sitting in a chair...frightened to move. We decided to make our way to Joseph Brant hospital...a block away...and he helped me get dressed as I was too scared to do it on my own. Walking gingerly down the hall after I was dressed....the unit fired again. I screamed.
Without another incident we arrived at the emergency department at the hospital and checked in. They took me in very quickly and after taking all my vitals...hooked me up to a heart monitor as well. There wasn't anybody at the hospital familiar with ICDs so they put in a call to the defibrillator clinic at Toronto General.
Long story short...the unit fired again while I was there but not hooked up to the monitor....(in the bathroom) The on-call guy from St. Jude's....came...deactivated my defibrillator...determined that the ventricle lead had pulled out and was recording my T-wave as another heart beat??? At least the defibrillator was working properly!..Small consolation....but after 5 days in hospital I returned home after 2nd lead implantation and another 6 weeks off work and to keep my arm from any great exertion.
Everything is fine at 8 week checkup and a new appointment is made for July 5th (btw...Madeleine's birthday)
Fast forward 6 months and we arrive at the defibrillator clinic at Toronto General and hear the news that they are unable to detect the ICD properly and both wires have pulled out and the insulation has been damaged too.
Guess what>>>>they have to reimplant 2 new leads!
As I am sure that you can imagine....I am ecstatic to hear this... and the surgery is set for August 29th, 2011.
This feels like a roller coaster but as of my last checkup...we are still wired to go.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

fabricated necklace

Copper wire with coins flattened...pierced...dapped and riveted....labradorite beads.

A few pictures of my jewelry

copper creations

silver plated wire

riveted-cold connections

verdigris patina

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

I'm Back

Friends and Visitors,
Welcome.
I just wanted to pop in and leave a note for all. I am currently off work due to the implantation of an ICD. (Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator) I am recuperating at home as I am not allowed to lift or move my left arm strenuously and my current posting for work has me lifting,changing and almost rolling around on the floor with the kids in the class. I love it.
I am still always reading but I am also pretty involved in my jewelry design and am enjoying my anvil at home.
We are about 4 days away from the anniversary of my son Nick's death. Although we feel that we will never recover from this...we are feeling peaceful right now and for me...the feeling of dread is remarkably absent this year. So far.
Please whisper a little prayer on October 30th for us to get through that day successfully.
Cheers,
Tamara

Monday, August 31, 2009

Blog Closed

Blog closed until further notice.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Miranda's Big Mistake by Jill Mansell

Thank you to Danielle Jackson from Source Books

About Miranda's Big Mistake from the Source Books website:

An irresistible summer read from Jill Mansell, an international bestselling author.

Jill Mansell is one of the UK's premiere contemporary authors, with her 19th title coming out in January 2009. She has sold nearly 4 million copies of her books in the UK.

Miranda is thrilled with Greg. He's gorgeous, funny, and practically perfect. Greg thinks Miranda is great, but he hasn't told her everything about himself. After all, even the sweetest girl is likely to be put off by a man who's left his newly pregnant wife. But there's no way she'll ever find out... is there?

My Thoughts

To say that I fell in love with a book would be somewhat dramatic but “wow...” Miranda meets this perfect man and he seems to be interested in all the same things that she is...but...then she finds out that he left his wife because she got pregnant. 'Got' being the operative word here...apparently she did it all by herself...to spite him. She broke the rules.

This book recounts the journey of revenge that Miranda takes to pay back this self-centred man and how along the way she gathers up and shelters those in need...including a homeless man who is more than he seems.

This story is more than a simple revenge plot. This story celebrates women in all guises...old and forgotten...pregnant and discarded...single and desperate and Miranda herself...lost and searching. The pace of the story is perfect as each nugget of fact unfolds itself and each character evolves.

All the characters are fleshed out completely and the humour just dances off the pages. I can't wait to read more books by Jill Mansell whose style is reminiscent of Marion Keyes and Sophie Kinsella but she also has a voice that is all her own.

Bravo Jill Mansell.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Kitty Raises Hell by Carrie Vaughn Blog Tour

Kitty Raises Hell

Full Description

Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas. ... more

About Author

Carrie Vaughn had the nomadic childhood of the typical Air Force brat, with stops in California, Florida, North Dakota, Maryland, and Colorado. She holds a Masters in English Literature and collects hobbies, fencing and sewing are currently high on the list. She lives in Boulder, Colorado. Her website is www.carrievaughn.com.

http://unmainstreammomreads.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

BLOG TOUR : Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly

Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly

Full Description

Here at last is one Irish family's epic journey, capturing the tragedy and triumph of the Irish-American experience. In a rousing tale that echoes the myths and legends of Ireland herself, young Honora Keeley and Michael Kelly wed and start a family, inhabiting a hidden Ireland where fishermen and tenant farmers find solace in their ancient faith, songs, stories, and communal celebrations. Selling both their catch--and their crops--to survive, these people subsist on the potato crop--their only staple food. But when blight destroys the potatoes three times in four years, a callous government and uncaring landlords turn a natural disaster into The Great Starvation that will kill one million. Honora and Michael vow their children will live. The family joins two million other Irish refugees in one of the greatest rescues in human history: the Irish Emigration to America. Danger and hardship await them there. Honora and her unconventional sister Maire watch their seven sons as they transform Chicago from a frontier town to the "City of the Century", fight the Civil War, and enlist in the cause of Ireland's freedom. The Kelly clan is victorious. This heroic story sheds brilliant light on the ancestors of today's 44 million Irish Americans.

In the author's colorful and eclectic life, she has written and directed award-winning documentaries on Irish subjects, as well as the dramatic feature Proud. She's been an associate producer on Good Morning America and Saturday Night Live, written books on Martin Scorsese, World War II, and Bosnia, and a novel based on her experiences as a former nun - Special Intentions. She is a frequent contributor to Irish America Magazine and has a PhD in English and Irish literature.

http://www.marypatkelly.com/blog/index.asp

Blog Talk Radio

Upcoming Show: 3/17/2009 11:00 AM

Host Name:	grandcentralpub
Show Name:	Live St. Patrick's Day Interview with Mary Pat Kelly author of GALWAY BAY
Length:	1 hr
Description: h:27517 s:432669	Mary Pat Kelly is the author of a novel Special Intentions, and nonfiction on subjects as varied as Martin Scorcese and the rescue of Scott O'Grady from Bosnia. In her life, she has been everything from a nun to a documentary filmmaker to a producer of short films for "Saturday Night Live". She lives in New York, NY. GALWAY BAY is a novel based on her own family's immigration story from Ireland to the US.

Letter from Mary Pat Kelly

Letter

The bones of GALWAY BAY come from my own family history, a story I discovered slowly over decades of research. In the beginning tracing my roots meant cranking through reels and reels of microfilm in a fruitless search. To access the U.S. Census records I needed the address where the Kelly’s first lived in Chicago, which I did not have.

Then I realized my father’s first cousin, Sister Mary Erigina, BVM might know. She did. Born Agnella Kelly in 1889, she had in fact lived with her great grandmother Honora Kelly. Agnella lived to be 107, her mind sharp and her interest keen.

Now I found the right reel. Here were the names of Honora’s children, their ages, but nothing about where they came from in Ireland. Finally I followed the trail to Galway and discovered at last the record of the birth of Honora Keeley, September 15, 1822. And the place? A fishing village right on the shores of Galway Bay. The cottages were gone but the Bay was the same. I stood on the beach looking out, and could almost see my great-great-great-grandfather John Keeley setting out in a pucán, guided by a knowledge of winds, currents, and the patterns followed by the fish themselves that he’d learned from past generations. I went to the site of the fish market in Galway City and imagined Honora and her mother selling the catch under the Spanish Arch, bargaining and trading, handling money. Rare for women of that time. How did that shape their character? read more...

The Potato Famine: A Memorial

My Thoughts

Galway Bay is an extremely well written book. This novel may be based upon the history of Mary Pat Kelly's family and the story of their starvation in Ireland during The Potato Famine in the 19^Th century but it doesn't read like a dry-as-dust history tome. I was thoroughly caught up in the narrative and shocked, saddened and inspired by this family. This family's history is just one triumphant saga of the horrific moment in history when the Irish people were almost wiped out by the potato blight that killed off their only food source. A very enjoyable read.

Please visit the other stops on this blog tour:

http://2kidsandtired books.blogspot.com

Monday, March 16, 2009

Live St. Patrick's Day Interview with Mary Pat Kelly author of GALWAY BAY

Time: March 17, 2009 from 11am to 12pm

Live St Patricks Day Interview with Mary Pat Kelly author of GALWAY BAY...here

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Waving "Hello" to the Blogging world

I am sure that most of you must have thought that I dropped off the face of the world but I have been hiding....just a little. I have been experiencing a huge wave of grief on my journey, through my life without Nick, and it has not only dried up my writing but for awhile it even dried up my reading....and that never happens. That is not supposed to happen and I will not STAND for it. LOL
I have also started a brand new full-time job at a different school and I think that the "growing pains" have calmed down a bit.
I hereby pledge that I will never let another week go by without an update at least on my life, job or the books that I am reading and I will try to post at least twice during the week.
Nice to see you all again and I am blowing you all a kiss. Mwuahhhhh

Isolation by Travis Thatcher

With masterful storytelling, Travis Thrasher draws readers into a novel so gripping it cannot be put down.
James Miller is a burned-out missionary whose time on the mission field in Papua New Guinea left him exhausted and disillusioned. His wife, Stephanie, feels like she's losing her mind. After moving to North Carolina, Stephanie begins seeing strange and frightening things: blood dripping down the walls, one of her children suffocating. Premonitions, she's sure, of what's to come. As the visions and haunting images intensify, Stephanie asks her brother to come for a much-needed visit--but he's hiding secrets of his own that will prove more destructive than Stephanie can imagine.
Nine-year-old Zachary sees his family's move as an adventure, and as he explores the new house, he discovers every young boy's dream: secret passageways and hidden rooms. But what seems exciting at first quickly becomes altogether frightening. When a snowstorm traps the Millers, the supernatural dangers of their new home will test everything they thought they knew about each other, and about their faith.

My Thoughts

Thanks to Hachette Books for my copy of Isolation by Travis Thatcher. This arrived in a special win at Hallowe'en from another blog's contest.
This....was a creepy story and I enjoyed it. While not a difficult read it deals with difficult ideas. Unfortunately it glosses over the details of the Miller's past brush with evil and it seems that details are left out to add atmosphere as if the less said about the past creates tension and stirs up unease.
Some parts of it felt too slick though and the age of the son, Zachary, made me feel that his actions were not believable for his age. Despite all of this and the fact that I had guessed the climax...I still quite enjoyed it and it 'creeped' me out.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

6 Things I Love & Addiction

Tagged from Serena over at Savvy Verse & Wit
The rules for the tag are simple.

Link to the person who has tagged you.
Write down six things that make you happy.
Post the rules, tag six others and let them know you did it.
Then tell the person when your entry is complete.

Six Things That Make Me Happy...

1. My Husband and my daughter...the loves of my life.

2. My 4 cats...Calli, Lucy, Willow and Annie Fae

3. Books.....Books....Books.......every shape, colour, genre

4. Making things....I knit, paint, make jewelery,sew. refinish furniture

5. Chocolate...good or bad..

6. Re-Use it stores...Salvation Army, Goodwill.
bargain hunting is the best!

I Tag.....

Shelley of Knit One, Read Two ( a real life friend in town)
Rebecca of The Book Lady's Blog
Melissa of Shhh I'm Reading
Jessica of Living Between the Pages
Deirdre of Unravellings
Lorin of Arch Thinking

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Fun Book Meme to Fill Out

I am stealing this from Steph Sue Reads who stole it from Black-Eyed Susan but this is just FUN!

One book you’re currently reading: The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike

One book that changed your life: What Katy did by Susan Coolidge

One book you’d want on a deserted island: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

One book you’ve read more than once: The Chronicals of Narnia by C.S.Lewis but also most books

One book you’ve never been able to finish: The Bible

One book that made you laugh: The Makedown by Gitty Daneshvari

One book that made you cry: ...I cry for happiness and for sadness but Anybody Out There by Marian Keyes made me sob.

One book you keep rereading: Faery Tale by Raymond E. Feist

One book you’ve been meaning to read: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

One book you believe everyone should read: The Chronicals of Narnia by C.S. Lewis...helps the dreams come to life.

Finally, grab the nearest book. Open it to page 56. Find the fifth sentence

"You are as much of a Toothaker as any of us."

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Snapshot Saturday # 2

PEI

We picked out and cooked some live for my favourite supper ever!!!!

Food for Thought

Has anyone else noticed the abundance of novels released lately by top selling authors....co written with an unknown?

Has anyone else noticed that some of these authors...write more than 2 books a year?

Hands up for anyone who believes that these well known authors write their own books....or is it a multi-million dollar a year business like everything else?

I stand up and declare that I will not read and review any more of these mass-marketed formulaic novels disguised as fiction.

Comments please

Tamara

Friday, January 30, 2009

The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood

Ann's Words

This novel is very special to me. A few years ago I was afraid I would never be able to write again. For my entire life, reading and writing were ways to work out what I felt, what I worried about, what I feared, what I hoped for. Then on April 18, 2002, my five year old daughter Grace died suddenly from a virulent form of strep. As an added insult, when I lost Grace I also lost my ability to use words. I couldn't read and I couldn't write. Letters didn't come together to make words; sentences did not make sense. I couldn't concentrate. I couldn't focus. Almost two years later, the literary journal Tin House sent out a request to writers for submissions for their theme issue on Lying. That night-I was unable to sleep well and was often up walking around the house at all hours-an essay came to me fully developed on the lies about grief. I sat down and wrote it and Tin House published it.

My Thoughts

When I wrote the words describing my thoughts and emotions about Ann Hood's book Comfort...I was also describing The Knitting Circle.
I am sure that this book was a very difficult one to write. Ann took the story of her family and her daughter Grace's death and she fictionalised it. It is almost the same story and well written.
More about this book though was centred on knitting as a form of therapy. a way of living through the grief ...even when you don't want to. The book also introduced a number of different characters who represented people from all walks of life who found knitting to be a solace for their troubles.

Comfort: A Journey Through Grief by Ann Hood

Ann's Words

"Slowly, slowly, I began to tell my own story of loss and grief and hope. You know how that first day at the beach when the ocean water is still so cold, you dip your toes in, then run out? Next try, you get up to your ankles before you run? Then up to your calves, your thighs, until finally you are waist deep and you can dive in head first? That is how I wrote COMFORT. I wrote a little, then retreated. A little more, a little more, until I was able to dive in. "

"I did not know what to do with her Christmas stocking, the one with the angel on it and her name sewn in my crooked attempt to use a needle and thread. I did not know how to celebrate a New Year without her. And on the first anniversary of her death...."
"...My Body cannot move. I am paralysed."
... " I used to wake in a panic that I had forgotten even one detail about her, or that I would forget someday."

My Thoughts

These words above that I have quoted from Ann Hood's book or her website...I have felt them all too ever since my baby died.
I must give proper thanks to Steve Colca of W.W. Norton & Company, Inc....who offered to send me this book after I added him on Twitter. He very sweetly asked me first if this would be a welcome gesture and after I assured him that it was he sent me this book and The Knitting Circle.
Most of my blogging buddies on here know that I myself have been on a grief journey. My son Nicholas (15) died just over 2 years ago on October 30th, 2006. Ever since that day...my heart has stopped beating. Ann's book took me down that road again...she took me back to the anguish and fear and shock that I felt that day. Her book broke my heart again but it also felt cathartic to cry as I relived my own last moments with Nick.
She manages to describe almost exactly the way that I felt about losing my Nicky when she speaks about losing her Grace.
She describes in minute detail all the platitudes that people say to you as a newly bereaved mother. "She/he has gone to a better place." (Are you kidding me?)
"God must have wanted them" (Not as much as I did!)
"I understand what you must be feeling." (Unless you have lost a child lady...no you don't!) and she also speaks about the weirdness that people feel around you. I myself have experienced people ducking behind stores, displays and bushes just to avoid speaking with me. Do they really think that we don't notice?
I have also felt people's impatience with me when I can't get out of bed sometimes to go into work because I am having a really bad day about missing him and I don't want to go on anymore. They are also impatient with me because they are tired of 'being reminded of my tragedy!" I work with a woman like that.
I am never sure how to deal with people like that but as my husband reminds me...that is their problem not mine. I have enough on my plate already.
Thank you Ann Hood for writing this book about your loss. I know that you wrote it just for me...didn't you? It feels like it anyway!

Tamara

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Your Blog is Fabulous! from Sheri @ A Novel Menagerie

Ok....I admit it...I am absolutely and completely chuffed with this award!
Sheri from A Novel Menagerie has welcomed me so completely into this blog world, that we all circle around, and her blog is the first one that I read everyday!

Thank you Sheri! Kisses and hugs........

I think what I failed to mention though is why I love Sheri's blog....
She is sooooo real!

the details of this award are simple just write 5 things that you are addicted to and name 5 other blogs to pass it on to.

Ok...Addictions...Hmmmm...

* I am addicted to getting books through the mail! ( I love getting my 'fix' everyday when the UPS or Canada Post guy comes!)

* I am addicted to Pandora beads and bracelets ( I have been collecting for only a couple of years but I love receiving beads to celebrate or mark an important event.)

* I am addicted to receiving comments on my blog posts! (Who isn't?)

* I am addicted to watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer with my daughter everyday. (My son Nicky and I used to watch this show when it was being broadcast and we loved it...this is another way to share something about Nicky with my daughter.)

* I am addicted to chocolate! (It doesn't even have to be good chocolate!...I am ashamed to admit.)

Ok...To Pass this along............

1. Confuzzled Books by Shannon ---Your blog is so charming with your hand drawn images.

2. My Tragic Right Hip by Deanna-----I first met Deanna through the Reading Club but I have remained a follower because her blog is always so well written and she blogs about herself. I love to "meet" the person behind the blog.

3. Poisoned Rationality by Lexie----I LOVE the name of this blog!

4. Musings of a Bookish Kitty by Wendy----Hmmmm....could be the name....the picture of the cat....or the content???? But I like it.

5. Bookaholics Anonymous by Jenn----This blog is new to me and looks very intriguing.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Monday, August 22, 2011

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Monday, August 31, 2009

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Full Description

About Author

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Letter

Monday, March 16, 2009

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Friday, January 30, 2009

Thursday, January 29, 2009

About Me

Subscribe To

My Son's video

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Map

Followers

My Shelfari Bookshelf

Blog Archive

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed

My Blog List