Were we had? Only God knows...

Yes, two posts on the same day. Don't ask!
The other day, my sister-and-law Linda and I went to Les Galeries de Hull (in Gatineau) to have a Shawarma dinner (they have the most scrumptious Shawarmas there - I am totally addicted - OK I admit, I am also addicted to chocolate and scrapbooking stuff, but I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE!!!)

As we got out of the car we were accosted by an English-speaking young man. He was so happy because we spoke English. He proceeded to tell us that his wife was 8-months pregnant and that they did not have any food or money. He was supposed to receive a compensation cheque on the Monday. He had been to different charity organizations to get some food, but to no avail, apparently. He looked clean and drug-free. Since we did not want to give him money, we decided to take him to Market Fresh and get him some food. Linda had to give me the look, because I was on a roll and was going to fill that cart! So we loaded him with fruits, veggies, bread, juice, milk, etc., and gave him some money for meat. He was very thankful.

After, we wondered if we should tell our husbands, because they would say we were had. Those two brothers most often think alike!

We don’t know, one can never be sure. When we told the Shawarma guy what had just happened, he was full of wisdom: what counts is that we did something good for someone, and God knows about it - what the guy did with it is out of our hands and between himself and his conscience.

So we told our husbands and they both said we were had. I am still not sure. Maybe I want to believe we did something good. Were we had?

I WON! I WON!

I won I won! (Insert stupid little dance...)
I could not belive it. I won some Heidi Swapp products! She is my favoritest (I know it doesn’t exist-but it’s fun for a translator to trangress - and I know, I know, I need to get a life!) Everything she does appeals to me so much, that I could not believe my eyes when I saw I WON! I never win anything. And on top of that it’s products I wanted to buy! Yayyyyyyyy! (And yay for my wallet, since I am supposed to stop buying scrapbooking products to save for the new house!)
Thank you Stéphanie, you told me to keep trying. (Hasn’t she been winning a lot of stuff lately???) And you were RIGHT. (It's nice to be right once in a while!) Poor Steph, I e-mailed her mostly in capital letters when I saw I had won, I was quite excited!
Thanks also to Laurie (Diva Loca) for letting me know I won, that's really sweet.

Here is why I am spying on the mailman for :

2 of each of theFresh & Free papers
including the border sheet, which is my favorite! 1 of the blue/green alphabet chipboard books,1 of the Fresh and Free stickers, 1 of the black and white alphabet stickers and the purse clip.

I can't wait. I hope it's not mailed from China!

Crop and fun

I had a wonderful time a the Ultra Pamper Crop at the Scrapbox this week-end. However, I renamed it the "Ultra Depends Crop", because Jenn should provide the Depends, so we would not lose precious time going to the washroom!
I thought 12 hours would be long, but I stayed a lot longer than that! Time just flew by - I was having a blast. I was very happy to create next to our diva Stéphanie. It was challenging and intimidating at the same time. I finished the mirrored album I had started during Stéphanie's class, and I am very happy with the results. I will post it soon. (I used my beach wedding pictures). I also did a 2-page layout and worked on two more 2-pages layouts (which is exceptional for me as I am the slowest and pickiest scrapbooker ever!)

I had a great time sharing with the ladies. It is an environment that promotes creativity and inspiration. I am glad I went and I will go back.
Thanks Stéphanie, my dear friend, for a most wonderful day. XXX

Last ones!

We are so small in the big scheme of things.

Formal drinking before the formal night!

Eleuthera Island (Bahamas)

OK - That's enough! Now that the girl has learned how to do it, she can't stop!
That's not too bad since we have 355 pics, and I haven't received the pics from the others!

Some more

Gorgeous conch shells in Grand Cayman. We bought
a couple to decorate our future basement (beach theme).

This is the big "chaloupe" (row boat)!
The magnificient and brand new Ruby Princess.

The gang ready to party (again)!

More pics

Friendly iguana in jamaica!

My friends the dolphins, later we petted them and kissed them.
They took the pictures (I haven't figured out how to post them yet.)
It was one of my BD presents form my hubby!

This man is petting..... a shark!
Not me, no way! I was nervous just watching.

Suzan and Dave (the brave ones) went up the Dunn's river falls.
Not Loulou the wuss with a bum arm. I went up the stairs and took pictures.

A few pics from the cruise

A cold evening in Fort Lauderdale before leaving

1st day on the ship - busy place. Looks worse
because all 3192 passengers are there!

A view of our suite, the knee at the bottom left corner is mine!

And Johnny Depp was there!

Well, his double... the photographer on the catamaran looked so much like him, it was weird. His name was Nacho (his real name I am sure!) and he looked like a pirate. He did not have any difficulty selling his pictures - I wonder why! I think Hélène took a picture of him. (I was too stupid to think about that - even if I had a camera in my hands!) I will try to get it and you will be the judge.

She is baaack!

Good morning girls!
I know I have,t been a good blogger, but I had technical problems, and then went on vacation. Excuses, excuses!
I came back late Saturday night from a wonderful cruise in the Carribean. We had a BLAST! We went with my great friend Suzan since I was 6, her sister Hélène whom I have known for ever, and her husband Normand of 35+ years. It was in memory of their dear mother (my second mom) who passed away a year ago after a very long and nasty battle with cancer. We shared many fond memories of her, a few tears and lots of toasts to the fantastic person she was and is still in our hearts.
Did I say toasts? Hmmmmm! When we were in Fort Lauderdale before our departure, Normand and my husband were in charge of getting wine and champagne, while us girls went hunting for a second suitcase for Hélène (one needs room to bring back stuff, especially when it's your first trip South and you are a cruise virgin!) Did the guys take their task to heart? Oh yes! They bought so much stuff, that at some point we had to start drinking in the morning (champagne and orange juice, no less!) in order to go through the wine cellar! Poor us!

We visited Jamaica, Grand Cayman Island, Cozumel and Princess Cays (resort of Princess Cruises on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas). We were not impressed with some aspects of Jamaica but loved everything else. More about that later....

My favorite memory is when we all went snorkelling together in Cozumel. We sailed on a catamaran to the snorkel site, got some instruction, and went in the water to discover the lovely fish that abound over there. We kept looking for each other to share our wonderment at the beauty of the ocean. After, we got back on the catamaran and sailed to a beach while drinking lots and lots of margaritas and cerveza! The beach was perfect with lots of activities, even a trampoline in the ocean, lots of fun, and places to relax, and more margaritas and beer! On the way back to the ship, we danced and acted silly and laughed and drank some more! I think that what I enjoyed the most was the freedom of being able to be as silly as you wish without being judged, the respect and the love in our group. It is very precious.

It was a total change of scenery and we all felt that we had been gone longer than 9 days.
More about the rest later. I have to finish unpacking... our luggage got here 2 days after us! Oh well, at least we got it. Tons of laundry to do!

When I figure out how to post pictures properly, I will inundate this blog! HA! HA!
Katie, I received your challenge and I will answer in another post (I have too many embarrasing moments, I could write a book!)
Have a great day girls!