The Book of Me... Written by You... Prompt 70

This week's prompt is - What have you learnt about yourself and your family?

Think back to the question we asked in Week One - Who am I?
Before you look back at the answers you wrote then, answer the question again.
Now compare are there any similarites, it is the same, or have any of the answers changed?
What has made the change?

Now lets look at the wider and original question - What have you learnt about yourself and your family?
Is there anything you still want to write and explore?

Who am I ?  Written today..

1.. I am a wife
2.. a Mother
3.. Grandmother
4.. Friend
5.. Child of God
6.. Family Historian
7..  Childcare giver
8..Lover of books
9.. lover of lights
10.. wanna be cook :)
11.. lover of Christmas
12..Homestay parent..
13.. Sister
14.. Aunt
15.. Introvert
16.. procrastinater
17.. daughter
18.. shy
19.. lover of Autumn
20.. bread maker
21.. people pleaser
22.. Scottish
23.. Canadian
24.. Oldest in family
25... I don't fit in
26.. too sensitive

That's all I can think of at the moment..

Here's what I wrote week 1...


Prompt one is...Who Are You ?
Ask yourself 20 times “Who are you?” Each time you should give yourself a different answer.
so here goes...

1. A wife

2. A Mother
3. Grandmother
4. Childcare giver
5.Sister
6. Friend

7. Lover of everything Christmas

8.lover of Autumn
9. Introvert
10. Family Historian
11. A child of God
12. A listener
13.A procrastinator
14. A lover of books
15.A lover of music
16. Shy
17. Sensitive
18. Scottish
19. Canadian
20.A dreamer
21A daughter

22. A picture taker

It was a little bit harder than I thought... but that is me in a nutshell :)

It was still hard to write again... similarities.. except for a few things, it was almost
all the same..

What have I learned about me, or about my family?
Well, I have a deep love for my family... I learned that I think I'm the only
one really interested in writing and keeping things / stories down
Not sure any of my family ever commented on what I wrote... and that's okay..
not everyone can be interested in family history...
I think I try too hard .. I think and feel too much...   I'm too sensitive
for my own good..
And yes..there's lots I want to still explore.

Since this is the last prompt for this, I want to say how thankful I am for these
prompts, which gave me an outlet, in which to write down things.
It made me go inside myself a bit, and explore how I really am / feel.
I didn't write down exactly everything that I feel for every prompt..
maybe one day I can get the courage to do that.
I learned that I don't have to be a great writer or story teller to keep up with
my family history....  I just have to write.
Looking forward to the next adventure....

The Book of Me... Written by You... Prompt 69

This week's prompt is - What is your most treasured possession?

• This could be something that you have bought from an inheritance
• A gift from a family member
• An item that you have been left by a friend or family member
• How do you plan to secure it's survival with future generations?

My most treasured possession... can I really pick one...

Of course Family.. and friends,, are they really possessions though.. they are
an important part of my life...

I had a ring that was a Redpath family inheritance, but I have already passed
that on..

My photo's and my Genealogy for sure are important... very important to me.
At this point I'm not sure what I'll do with it.
I'm hoping that one of my boys will be interested in having it .. I would hate
to think of it getting put in the garbage once I'm gone.
Hmmm... I should think about that now and  take some action...

Something else I have... I have an accordion file folder box thingy, and in it
I have cards , letters etc from students that we have had.
Sometimes, if I have felt down or unloved, I have took that folder out,
and will pick any card or letter from it...sometimes more than one,
and I read them.  I think of the student that wrote it, and read the beautiful
things they wrote and I feel loved.... even when I had felt unloveable.
 I don't think there is any way to preserve them... they only mean
something to me, and not to anyone else....
I cant really close the folder well anymore... excuse the mess it looks..

The Book of Me... Written by You... Prompt 68

This week's prompt is - Memory Tree.



As we head into the festive / holiday season I want us to think of those who will not be with us for the season. If this was your memory tree who would you put on the tree and why?

This can of course be friends and family, but what about former pets and colleagues.



I have so many choices, and even though this would make
it a HUGE gathering, this is who I would want to have come
and have on my memory tree.

Anne, Debbie, Billy and Karen... they are my half sisters
and brother...  why would I want them on my memory tree ?  I have only met Anne and Karen, and
that was only one time, and was only for a couple of
hours.. Debbie and Billy I have yet to meet.  I wonder what we have in common.. do we have the same sense of humour? I think Karen loves Christmas like I do.   I'm shy and more of an introvert, and I wonder if they are too. I think maybe Anne is the most like me personality wise.
I feel that is because we were both the oldest.  :)

Tricia and Agnes and Anne .... because its been too long since I've seen them.... I would definitely want them on my Christmas memory tree.

My previous students.. I would hug them, and squeeze them... well you get the picture. :)

If I could have my dad there, and my gran and mum, I would want them there also.
I want to talk to them, and hear their voices once more. I want to ask questions.... I want
to laugh and just enjoy their company.. I want more memories with them.
I want more family time with my family.. I want to tell them how much I love them..I just
want to see them again... Christmas would be a perfect time.

Since we can have pets as well.. I would have Heidi,and AJ, Kernal and Besse...
Having them run around would make it an interesting Christmas for sure.

Christmas Gift

To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.

 

 

The Book of Me... Writtten by You... Prompt 67

This week's prompt is - What are your priorities?

The American author, Kathleen Winsor owns this quote:

"Most people are so busy knocking themselves out trying to do everything they think they should do, they never get around to do what they want to do."

So, what do you want to do? how can you achieve that? and why is it important to you?


I love this..I LOVE the quote.. and its making me think.
Yes..What do I want to do ?

Can you believe that I can think of so many things that I DON"T want to do... so I have decided
to go to my bucket list, and write down the things I want to do on that.

I already know what I want to write in the message.... it has to make its way to Britain though
I haven't figured out how that will happen :)

This would be so fun so do

I am going to do this soon

Foe as long as I remember I have wanted to see the Grand Canyon... one day...

I would love to do this... and to see the tree being lit as well

 At my age...I really want to do this...

I would name it after my dad...

I have more things on my bucket list...but these are just a few.

The question at the top says " What are your priorities " ?

Are the things I just put down a priority... no... not all.
I think all the things on my bucket list are important to me though.
Maybe one day I will kiss underneath the Eiffel Tower like I want to, or ride an elephant
or just lay on the grass and stargaze.

Here's a link to the rest of my bucket list..I'm always adding to it.:)
http://www.pinterest.com/noraredpath/bucket-list/

It also asked in the prompt..What are my Priorities?

To have a happy family...
To be Happy...
To make at least one more friend ( I have a lot of acqaintances ) its not the same thing..
To love, to be loved ( I am ) :)
Enjoy life... just enjoy everything
There's more... but maybe for another time.

Remembering.....

As I am sat in the quiet of my living room... I am thinking about how fast time goes.
I remember when I was a young Mother, and was told... time goes by so fast, and
my face was smiling, but in my head I was thinking.. yeah, yeah !!
I got pregnant a year after we were married, I was so ill, but so happy..I
had wanted to be a Mother so badly, and now I was going to be.
When Ryan was born, I felt inadequate.. but so excited to have him.
He has come with challenges, but who doesn't, in some way or another.

Robin came along when Ryan was 18 months... she was the big sister...she's
10 years older.
Its true what they say..she was literally from my heart..my girl..the only
one we would be blessed to have. 
It was tough being a Mother at times to an almost teenager and a toddler.
When we got Robin, I also found out I was pregnant with Paul.

Life became busy...and people said...enjoy it all..time goes by so fast.
There were fingerprints on walls, that would reappear 5 minutes
after being cleaned, there were toys that I would step on in the dark
that were supposed to be cleaned up.. and there were cute hugs, and
I love you's, and " you're the best mommy ever "

And there was another baby boy that came...David..named after my Grandfather.
And life got busier ...and there were days that I wondered if I could
make it through the day.. there were sleepless nights, there were worries about
my teenager girl, and people said enjoy it all...it goes by so fast, and
sometimes I wondered ..

In between there were 5 other pregnancies... babies I lost... but I know
not forever.
And there was love... lots n' lots of love... I love these children of mine.

And time went on... and they grew up... and so did I
I miss the fingerprints..I miss the toys left out...
As I sit here remembering...I realise... time goes by so fast, too fast
And things change... and I wish they were young again..

The Book of Me... Written by You... Prompt 66

This week's prompt is - What do you treasure?

This week I am leaving the prompt wide open.

• You choose on what you treasure, the things, the people, 
• The things that are not seen, 
• The things that are seen yet not obviously treated as a treasure.

It seems so easy to leave the prompt wide open, just for us to decide, but
for some reason its harder for me.  So much is going through my mind..its hard
to concentrate+... so here goes, and I apologise in advance if its
all jumbled up. :)

Some treasures that I have in my home are photo's... Photo's on my walls of my children
and also grandchildren.  There are in some in frames on a desk we have.. they are my treasures.
The other photos I treasure are old photos... pictures of my dad when he was wee..
a photo of my mum and dad.. photo's of grandparents... I yearn for more of these old photo's..
to put a face to a name, has to be the most wonderful feeling.

I treasure the relationships I have... of course, the one I have with my husband is
the most important one.

 

 

The relationship that I have with my children..... some are better than others, but

I treasure them all

I love all my grandchildren, but I do have a treasured relationship

with one especially..

This one grandchild has been so supportive of me..what I mean

is , she has listened to me cry, or whine, and sometimes

gave advice.. most times just listened.

I treasure her advice.. I treasure her

I treasure the beautiful sky... tonight I took these pics of the moon

 

I treasure when get some time ..

 

Usually, I just seem to run in a million directions, but

when I get some time just relax, or just have a hot

shower... its wonderful

 

I treasure my Genealogy...its so important to me..
Some more things I treasure is
: snow filled days
:Sunny skies
:beautiful sunsets
:surprises
: Christmas
:A Heavenly Father who loves Me... despite me
:my camera, so I can capture the things that make me happy
: I treasure friends that have been by my side
I treasure these prompts, and the work that goes into
preparing them each week
I treasure the times I can sit in a dark room with just
Christmas lights on, and just think

The Book of Me... Written by You... Prompt 65

This week's prompt is - Colleges & University

• Did you go to college and / or University
• if not, did you want to or did you not want to?
• did you perhaps change your mind at a later date?
• What did you study?
• Was your studying vocational or a step on the ladder to another profession?
• What was the educational path you took to get to University or college?
• Where did you go? & why there?
• Regrets of study choice?
• Did you belong to clubs there?
• Friends?
• Pictures?

I did not go to any University or College... not that I never thought about it
at times..but once married and having a family, that was the more important
thing in my life to do.

There have been times this year that I have thought about doing my level one
in childcare, but I have still not done anything about it.
Part of me feels too old to do it, actually a BIG part of me feels like that.. and
I also feel so tired these days, the thought of adding just more thing to
the load I have... well... maybe not a good idea.
It doesn't mean I wont ever get to it though. its not something
I have given up on.  Why would I want to do this ?  I want to have
something to be proud of.. I want my grandchildren to be proud of me too

The Book of Me... Written by You... Prompt 64

This week's prompt is - Jobs and Careers

• Did you have a Saturday job, holiday job?
• Where was it?
• What did you do?
• Can you recall who you worked for and with?
• What was the biggest / most important thing you learnt here?
• Did it inspire your future?
• Do you have any pictures / photos / clippings?
• Did you have full / part time job?
• Job or career
• Does it not matter?
• Is it the same?
• Did you enjoy what you did? - Why?
• Was it a passion or a means to an end?
• Who did you work with?
• Did you have work place reviews?
• • Did they fit with your personal plan?
  • Did you have a career / employment work plan?
• Did you stay at home?
• • Or did you really want to?
• Did you have employment hopes and dreams
• Regrets

I did not have a Saturday job... a holiday job.. not really, although
one Summer I worked at Butlins holiday camp.
I worked at a place called Minehead Butlins. I was between Nanny jobs
when I lived in England, and so did that. 
I can't remember the title of the job, but parents would get their children asleep
and then would go for a night out to enjoy themselves... they would leave their name, and I ( and other girls )would walk around outside the rooms listening for any children crying.
It wasn't a great job, and I didn't work directly with kids, and to be honest,
I was glad when I was done.

When I first left school, I worked at a place called Wovenair.. I actually
liked it. The people were good to work with. I remember music playing through
the speakers and singing away while working.... lots of people did that.

I left there to go to England as a nanny, I then came to Canada doing the same thing.

Almost our whole married life I have had a dayhome..looking after children in our home.
I am still doing it now..and have just started taking care of babies again.

I definitely feel my time as a nanny has helped me to do this.... children
is all I know.

I did have other hopes and dreams... I had wanted to be a nurse, to take
care of people, but in a way that is what I do...
I don't have any regrets...
I can feel myself slowing down, and wondering how much longer I will
continue to do this.. I have a timeline in mind, but I know it could be
sooner... maybe later.. who knows.
I'd like to think that maybe... just maybe... I made a difference in
their wee lives.  I love seeing some of the kids I used to have on Facebook..
they are all grown up. Some are starting families of their own.. some have travelled,
most are just getting on with their life...all are as lovely now, as they were then.
I feel blessed..lucky in so many ways to have had them.
I guess my career isn't as grand as most people, but honestly, it has made
me happy... and that's what really matters