This set of photos is from my not so distant past. The photos were taken on June 1, 2001. I was twenty-five years old, living in Toronto, enjoying my life as an ESL teacher at a really good ESL school and just loving my time with my friends.

Here I am with some of the other teachers I worked with. Oh, we weren't always allowed to wear casual clothes! Only on Fridays! Plus, we were taking our students to Canada's Wonderland via bus and subway that day. My beautiful friend, Gavie's Gal is posing in the top photo with me. Gosh! Look how young we were in that photo!!!These photos were taken at Canada's Wonderland. Part of the activities at the school included field trips and outings. There were Niagara Falls trips, a trip to the "sugar shack" to see how maple syrup is made, New York trips, and local excursions (like Canada's Wonderland). Of course, the teachers were eager to go on this particular outing with the students! After all, who doesn't love amusement park rides, over-priced souvenirs and greasy food? I can honestly tell you that now, seven years after these photos were taken, I don't like any of those things I just mentioned! Is that a sign of old age? I have no idea how I used to be able to stomach all those rides. Now, I get sick even thinking of being on a roller coaster or being on a ride that spins while I'm upside down!!
I decided to throw in a few other photos. Here's a photo of some of our Korean, Japanese and Mexican students. Gavie's Gal and I took them for their first maple syrup experience. The students were able to see how maple syrup is made and they had a big, hearty breakfast (everything slathered with maple syrup, of course)!

This last photo is of a little "Bon Voyage"/"Going Away" BBQ I threw for some of our graduating students. My parents were kind enough to let us host the BBQ at their house. The students enjoyed lazing around the pool. I just realized that Gavie's Gal is in this photo too! I love looking back at old photos of my ESL years in Japan, Toronto and on the Island. Most of the ESL students I've had are wonderful, hardworking, fun, funny, and very special individuals. I'm still in contact with most of my former students. ESL students hold a very special place in my heart. I guess this is why I continue teaching ESL

It's been a while quite some time a long time AGES since I last posted a Throwback Thursday post. I'm really glad the girls at Pinks and Blues came up with the Throwback idea. It's always fun to rifle through old photos and relive fond memories.

This particular Throwback Thursday brings us back to the Summer of 2001. My girlfriends (roommates at the time) and I lived in Toronto and decided to go to Montreal for Canada Day. There's nothing more fun than a road trip with your girlfriends! When I think about us driving to Montreal for Canada Day, it makes me laugh. Going to Quebec for Canada Day??

My two lovely girlfriends (Gavie's Gal and Nathanial's Mommy) and I had a blast. We went to le festival de Jazz, strolled through le Vieux Port and Vieux Montreal, went to the Casino de Montreal, and revisited some of my old college and university hang outs.

We got to see Nelly Furtado perform live for the Canada Day festivities. I remember people in the crowd kept booing Nelly off stage. She messed up the lyrics for our national anthem and to some of her songs! I wasn't thoroughly impressed with Nelly back then. Perhaps it was because she was still new, but the only song she managed to pull off perfectly was "I'm like a bird". Perhaps she's the type of singer who performs better in studio rather than live. Who knows. I must have liked her enough to have bought her CD because I have it in my CD rack. I like some of her new songs and think she's a good performer. Perhaps that night just wasn't her night. I just love sharing all of Montreal's neat and unique spots with friends who are not from there. Though I live on the Island now, I guess it's safe to say that "once a Montrealer, always a Montrealer"! Okay, I'm a bit of a cheater. I was born in Toronto, but spent most of my life (twenty three years of my life!) in Montreal.Though most of my family still live in Montreal and we could have stayed with them, the girls and I decided to crash my friend, Avoid Everything's apartment in le Quartier Chinois. Why? Because he is one of the funniest, greatest guys ever...and his apartment was located right in the heart of the city. His balcony overlooked Place des Arts. How cool is that? We were just a hop, skip and a jump away from all the music, art, shops, patio bars and restaurants.

In the above photos: (top) Nathanial's Mommy, Gavie's Gal, and me giving Avoid Everything a huge bear hug.
(bottom) Avoid Everything, Nathanial's Mommy and my friend from college, Emerald.

The last photo is a cute one. We were walking back from the Old Port and Old Montreal when it started to mist drizzle spit POUR!!! Okay, it almost seemed like a torrential downpour! It seriously felt like we were in the middle of typhoon season! I remember us all running for shelter, but then when we realized we couldn't escape the rain, we ended up embracing it :)

Thanks for the good times, girls (and Avoid Everything + his roommate)! Love ya! XOXO

In this first photo, I was three months old. I had already relocated three times! I was born in Toronto, and Dad decided to move us to Trinidad and Tobago. We didn't last too long since Mom got homesick for her family. We then moved to Montreal, where I spent twenty three years of my life. Though I moved a lot after that, Montreal has always been 'home' for me.
I just love this photo of Dad and me. Check out the funky glasses! The 1970's = wacky fashion. When I was a teenager in the 1980's-1990's, I remember rifling through Mom's old clothes. She had platform shoes, hot pants, bell bottoms, tight jeans, jean jackets with peace signs and 'flower power' all over them and the coolest t-shirts. Mom kept all her old clothes for decades until not too long ago. I think she donated her cool clothes to the Salvation Army. I know I would never fit into her clothes, since she weighed 75 lbs when she got married. It would have been nice to keep them though. I love all that vintage stuff.

This next photo was taken in front of our church, St. Thomas-a-Becket in 1987. One of Mom's sisters is posing with me, along with my grandmother and grandfather. Whenever I see photos of my grandfather, I can't help but feel sad. He died when I was teaching in Japan and I wasn't able to make it to his funeral.

The above photo must have also been taken in 1987 because Baby Bro was still a baby. Middle Bro and I used to always fight over who got to carry Baby Bro or give him his bottle. Funny, I don't recall us ever fighting over who got to change his diaper!
Lastly, another photo in front of our church in Montreal. Check out how cute Baby Bro was! He's the little guy I'm carrying. I love that blue outfit he was wearing. So cute!

I remember being really ticked off because A) Mom cut my hair herself! Note the bowl cut? and B) I hated wearing dresses and I hated pink! Granted, the dress was peach, but it was still hideous. We always had to dress up for church, but for some reason, I think this was a special event. I don't quite remember what it was, but it must have been big for my cousin E3 to be wearing a tux and a little red bow tie!

**P.S. I knew I was forgetting something! I just realized that February 16th marked my 3rd year blogaversary! I can't believe it's been three years since I wrote my first post!**

This week's Throwback Thursday installment brings us back to 1992-1993.

1993 marked a very important year in my young adolescent life. It was the year I graduated from high school. It was an exciting year, yet at the same time it marked an end to many things. I know it was supposed to be a year of new beginnings, since we were on our way to college and then after that we were to go on to university. For me it signified an end of freedom. Long gone would be the days of just having fun with friends. College was serious business (I later found out that college was not all work and no play though). Many of my friends would be going to different colleges than the one I applied to. They called my college the "West Island Country Club". It wasn't really like that. I can think of some other places that were snobbier! In fact, I don't think my college was snooty at all!

One of our class trips in my last year of high school was a trip to Stratford, Ontario. I can't remember if we took the train or chartered a bus from Montreal.

I had traveled extensively around the globe and often felt guilty of not having visited more places in my own country. Stratford is one of my favourite places in Canada. Stratford is such a beautiful, quaint place. As you may have guessed, it was named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England.
These Throwback Thursday photos are from the time my friends and I went to Stratford for the Shakespeare Festival. The plays were not limited to only the works of Shakespeare. We also had the chance of seeing Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore. I'm a huge G&S fan, so this was such a treat!
The Shakespeare plays we saw were The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet and I can't remember if the last one we saw was Hamlet or Macbeth! It was so long ago!
Here we are in a restaurant (I can't remember the name) in downtown Stratford. It was here that we sat almost next to the late Mordecai Richler, who was also in Stratford to see a few plays! I wish I had mustered up the courage to ask him for his autograph! I was starstruck! I really enjoyed reading The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Soloman Gursky Was Here, Joshua Then and Now, and the Jacob Two-Two books.

I didn't get his autograph because I thought I'd let the man enjoy his meal without a bunch of groupies harassing him.

This last photo is my high school grad photo. Icky! I've never liked this photo! The big hair, fire engine red lipstick and the ungroomed eyebrows...What were we thinking back then? ;p
**I couldn't find a video for production of HMS Pinafore that we saw in Stratford. Instead, I've found one on YouTube for you to view.**

It's time for yet another Pinks & Blues inspired Throwback Thursday. Now that I've figured out how to use my new scanner, I shouldn't have any excuses reasons to not keep up with my Throwback posts.

This first set of photos is actually for Curiosity Killer. She recently asked me where some good cherry blossom viewing spots are in Japan. Ohanami is an annual event in Japan that lasts from April through May. It's means 'cherry blossom viewing'. Companies, families, and friends get together and have picnics underneath the cherry blossom trees. Everyone just enjoys themselves and admires the spectacular blooms. Celebrations go from morning until late at night (early in the morning, depending on how you look at things). Everyone pretty much drinks until they are inebriated.

These first three photos were taken in Hiroshima-prefecture. I can't remember which park we went to. I went to about a dozen ohanami parties that week! The photos do not do the blossoms justice. They were so pretty.These next two photos are in Yuki, which is not too far from where I was teaching. I think it was about an hour from Fukuyama, but I can't remember. My student wanted to thank me for teaching her and she organized a huge BBQ party at her place. Little did I know, she lived at a temple! Her husband was a monk and they lived at a temple with their two young boys. I didn't know monks could get married! As you can see from the photos, their place was stunning!

These last photos are of my co-teachers and our manager after a long day at work. We used to wait for each other after work, change out of our uniforms/business suits and grab a bite to eat together. Those were the good 'ol days. The four of us worked really well together and we were all great friends outside of work.

It's been a while since I've posted a Throwback Thursday post. First off, I do realize that it's Wednesday today and not Thursday. I'm a day early, but don't know if I'll have time to post tomorrow. I've got a few reasons excuses for not keeping up with this wonderful Pinks & Blues tradition. A) I haven't had time to look for old photos I've sort of been lazy about getting photos together, and B) Our scanner wasn't in operation for a while and Hubby just bought me a nifty 5-in-1 scanner/photocopier/fax thingy. Very cool!

I've only just figured out how to program and install everything. Duh...How come no one told me I had to insert the CD that came with the unit so I can install everything? Anyway, I figured it out all by myself and voila! I just went scanning crazy!

These photos are of my time in Japan. There will be more Japan pics to come, as I had many wonderful memories teaching there.

The first two sets are of me with some of my English teacher friends at Oshogatsu (Japanese New Year). We're wearing kimono and eating osechi (traditional Japanese New Year food). If you click on the photos, the images will be enlarged.



Let me tell you, I thought I was going to pass out wearing that kimono! They wrap you up and tie you up so tightly! It's not the most comfortable thing to wear, but kimonos sure are beautiful.


The last set of photos is from when my Mom and BabyBro (then 14 years old) came to visit me in Japan for three weeks. My Japanese friends took us to Miyajima, which is a famous island in Hiroshima Prefecture. It is known for its beautiful shrine and wooden gate. Deer and monkeys can be seen on the island. It's such a beautiful, magical, spiritual place. This said, it's also a major tourist attraction! If you get the chance to visit Japan, do make a stop in Miyajima.

Now for a new award! I was surprised to see a message from the lovely Mrinz saying that she's given me an award! Thank you ever so much :)

There are so many blogs that I visit on a regular basis. I have so many favourites! I can't choose just a few, so to those of you whose blogs I leave comments on daily, consider this your notification that you have received an award! :) You guys are great!

Christmas in our family has always been a special time to get together, enjoy each other's company, eat lots and lots of delicious food, attend church services, and to stay up and wait for Santa Claus to bring our presents. I remember when we were young, there were so many presents for us under the tree. Some years, there were so many presents that we couldn't even see the tree! Those were the 80's. We were still young. Neatly wrapped were our coveted Transformers, WWF wrestling figures, and Coleco Vision game sets with game cartridges (The Smurfs' Adventure, Donkey Kong Jr., and Zaxxon, to name a few). We all received clothes. They were all matching too. Imagine having to wear the exact same thing as all your cousins? Some may think it's cute to dress your kids all the same, but back then, I thought it was just horrible. I suppose that to be fair, the adults always decided it best to give the kids the same things to avoid jealousy.

Somewhere mangled up in all the Christmas gift giving, we always received the message (mostly from my aunts and my grandmother) of the real meaning of Christmas. We'd go to church services and in the weeks before Christmas, we'd light the Advent candles.

One year, my mom's youngest sister made Christmas stockings for each of the kids and even embroidered our names on them. We had the stockings all lined up and they looked so festive. Now that we're all getting married and starting families of our own, I'd like to be the aunt who starts that tradition. Oh, but I can't sew...remember? LOL!

Anyway, we all grew up and it feels like after the death of my grandfather, nothing has been the same since. Christmas became just a time to get together and share a meal. We'd exchange presents. Other than that, it was just another day in the year. Christmas lost that wonderful feel. Then one of my aunts died after Christmas a few years ago. Again, Christmas became somewhat of a sad time for our family.
Hopefully, we can regain some of that Christmas spirit and try to revive things a little. I always said that when I have kids of my own, I hope that they can experience the wonder and joy of Christmas like we did when we were kids. Christmas is still my favourite time of the year. I think it will always be the most special holiday for me.
Here's a photo of all the cousins and spouses/significant others. This was taken last Christmas. My, how our family is growing! In case you hadn't noticed, this last photo has been "doctored". Hubby, Baby Bro, and I were on the Island last Christmas, so I "PhotoShopped" us in. LOL! Hubby and I have decided to celebrate Christmas with my family one year and his family the next year. Middle Bro and his wife alternate too, and that seems to work really well for them.

First off, I'd like to say CONGRATULATIONS to Audrey and her Hubby over at Pinks and Blues. They're expecting their fourth child in June! Exciting news!!!

I haven't been very diligent with my Throwback Thursday posts, while the Pinks and Blues Girls always have the greatest photos and stories on their blog. Here is my latest installment:



Since it's almost Christmas, I'll try to find old Christmas photos to post. I actually stole this one from my youngest cousin's Facebook photo album! Here we are being goofy on Christmas. I remember when Christmas was filled with wonder and magic for us kids. We'd all get together at my aunt's house and have this HUGE Christmas dinner and then sing carols. We'd go to Midnight Mass and we'd return to my aunt's house where we'd wait for Santa to arrive with all our presents. We'd all sleep over in one house. Imagine 30+ people sleeping in the same house? All of us kids would sleep on the floor in our sleeping bags and we'd have so much fun! The men would play poker and the women would be busy in the kitchen the entire time. I miss those days when we all lived close to each other.

Oh, the matching visors? I think it was a gift from one of my aunts. Back in the 80's , we (the cousins) always received matching EVERYTHING! You knew we were related by just looking at our matching t-shirts (or in this case, visors)!




The above photo is of my grandparents' 50th Wedding Anniversary. My grandfather passed away a few years ago and around Christmas is when I miss him the most. Christmas just hasn't been the same without him.

This last photo is totally unrelated to Christmas, but the movie John Q was on the other night and Baby Bro made a brief appearance in the first ten minutes of the movie as the pitcher at Denzel Washington's son's baseball game in the movie. I may have posted this pic already, but I thought it was cute.

I almost missed NaBloPoMo today! We said goodbye to my student today. I can't believe two and a half months just flew by so quickly! Hubby and I did some Christmas shopping. Yay! We finally get new windows for the house! I got home in time for my library meeting and just have enough time to post for NaBloPoMo.

Middle Bro has always loved Baby Bro so much. I was 11 and Middle Bro was 9 when Baby Bro was born. MB and I used to always fight over who got to feed BB. In the photo below, MB, BB and Dad were sleeping while we snapped this shot. Too cute! Our 3 men!
Like a good brother, MB taught BB how to play hockey. Check out the blue Converse shoes MB is sporting int his pic! I can't believe that my friend's daughter paid $60 for a pair of Converse just last week. I don't remember them being that expensive! We wouldn't have been able to get a pair (and we had quite a few pairs!) if they were that expensive! My parents didn't really buy us name brand anything when we were kids!
This is one of my fave pics of my brothers. I can't believe Baby Bro is graduating from university next year and Middle Bro is married and has an 8 month old son! Where does the time go??? It seems like only yesterday that we took these photos!

The girls at Pinks and Blues always post the most heartwarming Throwback Thursdays. I've been rather delinquent in my TT postings, but hopefully I'll get back in the swing of things soon.

This week's set of photos are of my little cousin, Jey and yours truly. I grew up in a very tight-knit family, where all my cousins were like siblings to me. For the longest time, I was the princess, as I was the only girl in the family. Fast forward to when I turned ten, and a new little princess was born.

Jey was the little sister I never had. We all looked out for her (we still do) and are very protective when it comes to her. Here are some pics of my 'baby sister'. She was the cutest little girl. She had the biggest eyes and her hair stood up and made her look like a little porcupine!
I'm in the second photo. Here, we're with Jey's cousins from her dad's side (Jey's mom is my mom's youngest sister). I'm the one in the white outfit with the pink suspenders! Hahaha! Don't ask. I have absolutely no idea why I was wearing suspenders. I know it didn't have to do with making a fashion statement because that's just ugly. Oh, and the hair? I was really upset when my mom said she was going to trim my hair and ended up making a mistake, so she had to chop it off! Argh! I can't tell you how miserable I was.
This next set of photos are from Jey's birthday. I won't tell you where I am in the photos, because I am embarrassed! LOL!
Hawaii Joe and P, playing with Jey. In the photo below this one, I'm holding Jey. What a cutie she was! Check out how dark I was! I was always playing out in the sun with no sunscreen!
My little sis and me in Puerto Galera. We had so much fun! We danced on the beach, partied under the stars and met lots of interesting people. I miss Puerto Galera!
Since Jey and I have always been close, it was only natural for me to have her as one of my bridesmaids at our wedding. I can't believe that was a year and a half ago!
This is one of our most recent photos. This was taken at our cousin, Married Winkel's wedding.