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An American in Kelowna – I’d rather have a Smart Wife than a Smart Phone

An American in Kelowna – I’d rather have a Smart Wife than a Smart Phone

Okay. Let’s cut to the chase. A lot of readers and followers have been asking “what Elaine does for a living?” as the only current wage earner in our Okanagan Valley household.     Excellent question. Thanks for being curious. The answer is so deep and clinical that I requested her job description in writing so I could better understand and describe her daily regimen of shaping young minds through academic excellence. We’re talking about my blushing bride. She’s fifty…

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An American in Kelowna – First Canadian Christmas Featured Heavenly Hike, Brussels Sprouts, and Boxing Day

An American in Kelowna – First Canadian Christmas Featured Heavenly Hike, Brussels Sprouts, and Boxing Day

“On the first day of Canadian Christmas, my true love gave to me:” A stocking-full of firsts: On Christmas Eve – Elaine and I went, for the first time, to a 3 PM service at Willow Park Church in Kelowna. We were invited by Ron Cannan, MP, to come enjoy the sermon and singing. Ron played drums in the church band. The pews were packed. We sang along and loved it       After Church – Elaine and I,…

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Our Family Celebrates the Christmas Time Anniversary and Beloved Memories of Christopher James Jeffery

Our Family Celebrates the Christmas Time Anniversary and Beloved Memories of Christopher James Jeffery

Elaine recently approached me with a request that was deeply important to her. She asked if I would create a blog post this Christmas season commemorating the anniversary of when her son Christopher died. As a reminder to everyone – Elaine’s 10-year-old son, who was also a brother and grandson, died in a car accident on December 22, 1997.           Of course, my response was an emphatic “YES” before she even finished her sentence. Not only…

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Mothers Hold their Children’s Hands for a Short While, but their Hearts Forever

Mothers Hold their Children’s Hands for a Short While, but their Hearts Forever

My Mother Julie is in the middle of her eighth decade of living life to its fullest on Planet Earth.  She tells me all the time about how blessed and fortunate she has been.       I feel the same…..about her. ‘Tis the holly jolly Christmas season – time for me to spread a little joy to the world and let everyone know that I GOT LUCKY! I hit the Mother lottery. I hit the Mom jackpot. No tickets…

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A Dedicated Dental Hygienist Rides Off into the Rinse-and-Spit Sunset

A Dedicated Dental Hygienist Rides Off into the Rinse-and-Spit Sunset

For as long as I can remember – I’ve had one dental hygienist monitoring my molars.     She was excellent at her job, she took considerable interest in my oral practices, she made my gums tingle and teeth shine with a smile on her face.         Say hello to my wonderful, caring, and skilled-with-sharp-instruments sister, Jane. After 40 years of drilling, scraping, and watching patients spit blood, last night’s dinner, and chunky gunk into her chair side…

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An American in Kelowna – Thankful my Wife Doesn’t Buy into Black Friday

An American in Kelowna – Thankful my Wife Doesn’t Buy into Black Friday

I learned recently from a credible source that bloggers need to bow to Google Trends. Whatever the hot topics of the day and week are MUST appear somewhere in my posts. Headline or body copy. Gotta attract the spiders. A spider is a software program that travels the web locating and indexing websites for search engines. Hence the headline addressing being thankful, my wife, and (spider alert) Black Friday. Today is American Thanksgiving. Today is Thursday in Canada. Tomorrow is…

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An American in Kelowna – Adjusting + Compromising

An American in Kelowna – Adjusting + Compromising

Life is a combination of adjustments and compromises. “You adjust when someone wants to be with you and compromise when you want to be with someone!” Who authored this quote – a fictional online character with a goofy pseudonym?! Regardless of its origin – I thought it drew an excellent parallel to how my life has changed (adjustments) for the way, way better in Kelowna and how I’ve gone about negotiating (compromises) the new realities transforming my life. Here’s a USA/Canada…

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