Heartbreaking news....

I am mortified to share that my little sister, Judy Coddington, died of unknown causes on Nov. 25th... It took everything I could muster to do her eulogy this past Saturday... Here is her obituary...

Coddington, Judy - of Sauble Beach, suddenly at Grey Bruce Health Services Wiarton on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009. The former Judy Arlene Gorman at the age of 50 years. Loving wife and best friend of Brad. Devoted mother of Natalie Lamb, of Owen Sound, Melanie Lamb and Jamie Lamb (friend Kristin), all of Guelph. Cherished Gramma to Benjamin and Jerry. Judy will be sadly missed by her sister Rev. Kathryn Gorman-Lovelady (Brian), of Penetanguishene; brothers-in-law; sisters-in-law; nieces; nephews; and many good friends. Predeceased by her parents Gerald and Beulah Gorman; and her father-in-law and mother-in-law Clifford and Audrey Coddington. Friends are invited to gather with the family to share memories during a time of visitation at the Thomas C. Whitcroft Funeral Home & Chapel, Sauble Beach (519) 422-0041 on Saturday, November 28th, 2009 from 2-3 pm, where a service to celebrate Judy's life will be conducted from the chapel at 3 o'clock. Cremation to follow. Donations to the Arthritis Society would be appreciated.

Judy Coddington
1959 - 2009

I didn't find out she was dead until nearly noon on Thursday... I am still in a state of shock... I went back to work today because I needed to be busy and stay on top of my work obligations.

It changes how I am approaching Christmas... As we move into this blessed season, I wish all my friends and extended family the best that the Creator shares with us. Happy December.

8 months since I last wrote!! Ooooppss... We had the same weird, brief summer that everyone else did... No travel, just some weeks off to work around the house. Angeni is growing like a weed - she's 5' 8" now, and looks like she should be in university rather that grade 6...

We're down a cat... Dear silly Bob was killed back on April 2nd. We miss the little buggar. No other new pets, although I'm still interested and researching yorkie-poos like Pooky was... I was remembering her on Oct. 30th, which was her birthday. We cannot have another dog without a kennel licence, so we cannot get another yorkie-poo until one of our other dogs has passed.

Work goes well. There are new and improved resources for the aboriginal inmates, and it looks like our community partners are coming on board to help us. As our duties increase, our time on the floor decreases, so it is important to have community support volunteers to assist with the existing circles. We have the opportunity to expand things greatly but only with enough bodies to fill the support roles... October was a busy month of travelling. I managed nearly a week in North Bay for a NILO conference, and just this week returned from Jackson's Point. There I participated in an Ontario Multifaith Council conference.

In the meantime, we didn't do medicine wheel gardens here at home, but did manage some wonderful gardens around the front of the house. There was a lot of reconstruction of the yard as well as the house, so we couldn't do much with medicine gardens. We did have one at the jail. So much renovation, though... a new roof, insulation of the basement, new windows and double doors. Also, another fireplace in my studio, new walls in the studio and new drywall in the garage. The floors in the upstairs are all replaced and the "other" bedroom is now a beautiful wolf den, ready for guests with a fireplace. The library, now finished, is a wonderful resting area, and Brian finished that bathroom... Now it is my studio that remains to be plastered and painted... When it is finally all complete I will have a comfortable, neat place to work. Right now I'm in my jewellery making mode. It's what appeals to my creative self...

Guess that's all for now... Have a good November!!

Wow... I could have had a V8

Okay, so I've been away from this for awhile... Lots happening in my life, but I have no excuse for neglecting this blog... It's my birthday today, so I thought I'd clean things up.

Our work is going well, and we're doing a lot of programs with the aboriginal offenders. We've connected in a meaningful way with the aboriginal community and I look forward to participating in local art shows this spring. I'm hoping to have my own open house this summer.

I see the light at the end of the tunnel with respect to the renovations of the house - thankfully. We're down to the "lipstick and mascara" to quote Mike Holmes. Peaches the chihuahua is doing a great job of becoming the party dog of the house... Less than a year ago she was a snarling feral runaway. Now she is a bed snuggler and slipper thief. And she likes her special outfits - bathing suit, dressing gown, tutu, and other canine fashion statements. Spunky, Max and Starr are doing their usual thing, although they miss the 50 acres.

Speaking of Durham, that property finally sold in late November and all the running back and forth kept us really busy. We finally are getting out from under the debt load, and I'm thankful for that... Angeni was really missing her old school, but this year is fully adapted to life in Penetang - she even joined the school council.

I spent some rough days last month in hospital with ruptured ovarian cysts - ouch. The problem continues, and we're monitoring it. I don't relish peritonitis and I dislike the headache and nausea. Movement is difficult when the acute abdomen develops. However I didn't miss much work, and I assume this will ebb with menopause. I've resumed knitting socks when I'm housebound, and that's a fun thing to do when I'm not feeling great.

It's coming up to the 7th anniversary of my mother's passing... I think about her a lot. It amazes me how much processing of the mother-daughter relationship I've done... It will be 2 years since Pooky died (in June) and I miss her desperately... A different relationship but just as dear. Now, one of my peers is leaving for San Diego, and I will miss her... Life is precious.

Brian is well. He put on a belly when he stopped doing the farm chores last year. His response is a Pilate's/yoga class that both he and Angeni seem to be enjoying. He's lost 10 pounds in less than 2 months, without changing his diet, just doing the class weekly. Interestingly, the township postponed one Monday night because of "Family Day" last month and he really noticed it, and missed it. Strength and balance at its finest.

All in all a good start to 2009. A great birthday today... A wonderful life...

Welllllll...

What a summer and what a September!! Been in a car accident, almost sold my house twice and did a professional development seminar... Our new house has heat and A/C now as of today, and we're about a month away from getting some furniture. The studio is done after many months of hard work and I've resumed my sewing. I'm pooped. It's autumn equinox today, so we're half-way to winter...

Peaches continues to expand her people skills. We took her to the beach on the leash a few times, and she seemed to relish the walking. Her leach skills are good, but she can still escape through 2 layers of sheep fence. Escape artist extraordinaire. The rest of the animals are fine...

Angeni is enjoying another year with a favourite teacher in the new school in Penetang. She is in a 5/6 split, so that is stimulating for her to work at the level of the older kids. She grew about 3" over the summer after many weeks in day camp. She had more adventures in one summer than I've had in a lifetime.

Summer zooms by...

Been a long time since I posted - haven't abandoned the blog, just settling in and renovating takes all the time we have outside of work. The studio is within sight, but not quite complete. New windows and doors are being installed and we have to get the heating thing sorted out yet. I won't be on electric heat for another winter.... The Durham house is still for sale, but all the reno's there are done.

Angeni is enjoying the Tiny Twp camp and is entering her 6th week of it... given the long weekend we're just completing, this is a short week. She turns 10 next Monday!!! What a decade!!!

Peaches is grooving along, and would be a model dog except for the urinary incontinence. I think her spaying was problematic, as this isn't really healing. All the other animals are doing fine...

To end this glorious long weekend we're having a family camp fire in the yard... time to go get that started.

Settling In...

Not settling for... Hmmm. That sounds cranky, but it isn't meant to be... Rather, I am making sure that how I move in here reflects what I want and how I want the place the be... We're still without heat in about 40% of the main floor, so I can't set up my work room. It's still too cold out there.

I'm struggling with an abscessed tooth and the horror of walking pneumonia. I've taken today and tomorrow off work to allow me to heal. Other than a funding proposal to finish, I am caught up. I'm involved in prepping for a National Aboriginal Day celebration, so we can present the institution with a painting by Eve Dexter of white buffalo. Finding dignitaries to participate, and native dancers, is a trick. And expensive. We'll see how it pans out.

We're working specifically on the library and office. The office is 90% done, while the library is maybe 70% done. We need to purchase some more bookshelves and finish installing the electric fireplace to make it complete. It looks quite spiffy in there, actually. There is an adjoining bathroom - sink and toilet only - which we've managed to make look quite grand. As we separate out the stuff for a garage sale I'm amazed at what I can now let go of - solid pine end tables made in 1977 by my first husband, dressers, all our Ikea furniture, lamps, kitchen overflow and just incredible amounts of stuff. It's like an archaeological timetable of my life. I am able to let it all go.... Good, healthy stuff. There is a sense of relief, actually, it just letting things go... maybe I'm becoming Buddhist? Nah, I like jewellery too much.

Angeni is finally accepting of her new school in Penetang. This is a much anticipated adjustment. She still sees the kids she left behind as her 'best" friends, yet they don't communicate at all. The dogs have not adapted to their confinement in the small yard. The dog control officer told us of complaints he's received, so we have to tie them up until we can fence the yard. Better to be good neighbours than have happy dogs.

Better get back at it - the office won't be right until I finish it.

Long time coming...

It's Sunday March 9th, a week after my 51st birthday, and I'm chilling to Pink Floyd... I apologize for the loooonnnnggg time away from this blog. At the last entry we'd been to work for two weeks and dealing with extreme financial and moving stresses. I get huge numbers of emails every day, although who these emails come from has changed... few clients and more work-related tomes. So let me catch up on what has happened... These won't be in any particular order, just as they come to mind...

My lovely Nonny had to be euthanized on Monday, Feb. 25th. She had developed lung cancer, after her kitty mastectomy last June (the week Pooky died). She was cognizant of who we were, and even in weakness meowed her recognition and purred on my pillow... I had Nonny almost 17 years. She goes back to the early days when I lived with Fred. I chose her from amongst a group of new kittens at the KW animal shelter. At 6 weeks old, she was sitting there, like the Sphinx, with other younger kittens crawling all over her. To say she was mellow was an understatement. Nonny never got caught up in the household cat/dog hierarchy. Ethol, her original house mate was always "The Quoon" and kept everyone in their place. Even after Ethol passed in December 2005, it was Zuna who took over the crown. Nonny was just herself. I called her Nonny Monster, but she was always the antithesis of a monster. She was much-loved and is much-missed.

Angeni started school in Penetang on January 7th. I really like her teacher, Mrs. Ball, who watches her interactions and doesn't pressure Angeni. Mrs. Ball has a wisdom and gentle approach that Angeni needs. Slowly she is making friends - this coming March break week Angeni is going to a day camp run by the community, so there is more opportunity to meet her friends and simply play. There were a lot of tears the first couple of months, but now we see more relaxation and laughter. It was clearly very hard for Angeni to give up the only home she ever remembered. She is resilient, in the face of all the changes.

We've moved in, more or less, to this new home. There are parts of it without heat, so Brian and Del are moving forward on a boiler system to replace the electric baseboard heat we now have. There is propane here for a faux fireplace, and the hot-water heater, so we have the opportunity to go all-gas. I smell a joke in that statement, but I won't go there.... Anyway, I miss my studio space, and until the heat is in the large room on the west of the house, I can't set up my sewing or knitting machines. What I notice I miss the most right now, is making jewelery. That surprised me, when it bubbled up from my subconscious. Soon, within the next month, I should be functional in the studio - this will help me feel more settled. Of everyone in the family I am the least settled. While I miss Durham for the space and peace, I relish being close to the water. But I won't be "here" until every last box is completely unpacked.

I guess this is enough of an update for today... While it should be a sleepy Sunday, Brian has been plowing the yard for 3 hours now, and it is lunchtime. He's got his tractor back, so he's still tractor dude. If the old tractor could run on testosterone, we'd be set - Brian's reaction to the tractor is similar to "Tim the Tool Man Taylor" - grunt, grunt, grunt. Boys and their toys.

Have a blessed week, and maybe spring will peak through shortly!!