Category: Leisure

Leisure

A risk I took that I don’t regret.

beingmesober

Describe a risk you took that you do not regret.

Would a blind date be a risk? I guess it was for me. What happens if it totally goes wrong, what if I really like him but he doesn’t like me?

My stepfather started talking about this gentleman shortly after I was separated from my ex. My stepfather kept asking if this person had called me yet. He was telling me how he would be perfect for me. Makes decent money and is raising his 2 daughter’s on his own.  I told him the last thing I need is a man in my life. I wanted to and had to concentrate on what I was doing, where I was going. I was emotionally unavailable, I wasn’t myself then. I was drinking and raising 2 young children.

2 years has gone by and my stepfather is still talking to me about this guy! He’s also talking too the gentleman about me, and asking if he’s called yet. My stepfather was determined for us to meet.

May 23 2006 my future husband called. He asked if I wanted to meet up for coffee. Of course we both felt obligated to go on the date so I said sure!

I was skeptical about him because he is in the financial industry and he is not someone that I typically go for. He is 10 years older than me which was a plus. More secure and knew what he wanted. But I had this image in my mind that he was a “Banker” I had an image of Mr. Cleaver in my mind. I thought he probably doesn’t even drink. Little did I know. Little did he know.

We went for a walk around the lake and to my surprise he asked if I wanted to go for a beer somewhere. Ohhhh wow! Okay, he does drink. Well ya! I responded. Luckily we had to drive home so we couldn’t stay long. He asked me if I wanted to go for dinner the following evening. I accepted. He was/is super nice, good looking and wants so many things that I want. What was really attractive was the fact he was raising 2 teenaged daughters on his own. He is an amazing father.

May 25 2026 will be 20 years we’ve been together! 13 years married and ironically it is also 17 years of sobriety for me. That determination my stepfather had I am extremely thankful and grateful for. He did more than set us up, he saved me in a way he never knew, I never knew. When we met for coffee that day it was the beginning of something so magical and heaven sent.

I took a risk that day by meeting someone totally out of character for me and it changed not only my life but my kids too. We had a lot of work ahead of us but we made it through. We have an amazing blended family with 7 grandchildren.

I will never regret saying yes to the “Banker”. Nor will I ever forget what these 2 men brought to my life 🙏❤️

Leisure, Mental Health

A positive thing a family member has done for me.

beingmesober

Describe a positive thing a family member has done for you.

I’d like to honor this post to my God Mother who is also my Aunt. Aunt Lee Ann. She passed away March of 2025, she was the oldest of 4 children and the sister to my father, who passed a month earlier, in February of 2025. Yes, together they left.

Aunt Lee has a son and daughter. We were extremely close growing up and still are. My cousins became like a brother and sister growing up together like that.

Lee Ann was a strict Catholic and when her 2 kids were older and had moved on with their own lives, she started getting more involved with the church, she did some tremendous work all over the world . She helped many and devoted her life to the church. While she was busy doing her life, no matter how busy or what part of the world she was in, she never let a birthday or Christmas go by without sending me a message. It had to be sent at 12:00am exactly every year so she could be the first to wish me a happy birthday 🎂, or a Merry Christmas. I was also told I made the best tea ever! Ha, til I figured out her game 🤔. Some of my favorite memories throughout my life are with her.

She played a very positive roll in my life. She guided me and helped me get through some of the worst times with my dad and our estrangement. She was the only one who totally understood where I was coming from and kept me sane pretty much.

I miss her, but I know she is up there watching over me, still guiding me. She will always be the first voice I hear on my birthday, wishing her, “favorite niece” the best birthday from her, “favorite God Mother and favorite Aunt”.

Thank You Auntie Lee 🙏🎂🎄

Leisure

What is my favorite restaurant?

beingmesober

What is your favorite restaurant?

My favorite restaurant will take us back to the 70s. Mr. GreenJeans. Downtown Toronto, in the Eaton Center. It was located in the corner of the massive 4rd floor of the mall, I think 🤔.  It was so so cool. My mom would take me when I visited on the weekends. I would have been 9 then. The restaurant had huge high top tables and green chairs. It was set up with greenery and ivy trellises, beautiful flowers, with parrots, fake, in tree branches all over the restaurant. It made you feel like you were in a jungle or rain forest. They served the best burgers and fries with a milkshake! After a long day of shopping we needed a good lunch and Mr. Green Jeans was my favorite.

Fast forward to the year 2012, we had a condo in Ft. Lauderdale and always hung out at a place on the corner by the beach called 101 by the Ocean. My husband and I met so many great people there during our 15 years on that coast.. One evening I was speaking to a gentleman who was from Toronto, ohhhh, where abouts, I asked, he was from Rosedale a very posh area of the city, then he said he owned a restaurant in the Eaton Center, and guess which one???? MR. GREENJEANS! I was beside myself. You’d think I just met God! I was almost screaming with excitement and yelling for my husband to tell him who I actually just met. He thinks I’m crazy 🤪  Take our picture, take our picture. I hadn’t even asked this poor man if I could take his picture. Lucky he was friendly and most definitely loved the attention. I couldn’t wait to send my mom the picture and tell her who it was in that picture…She flipped out lol.

His name is Shelley aka Mr. GreenJeans, and a lovely man. I was so honored to meet the man who built something that I still love today. He had played a part in my happiness as a child and left me with such fun memories that I will cherish forever.

Thanks Mr. GreenJeans

https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2025/08/history-mr-greenjeans-restaurant-toronto/

Leisure, Mental Health

Five everyday things that make me happy.

beingmesober

What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?

Hello fellow warrior’s!

Its hard to narrow down what brings me happiness through the day to just 5 things but here are some that bring me to a happy level.

  1. Waking up is of course the first thing that makes me happy. What the day will bring while my dog Gracie, a golden retriever, is sprawling all over me, or doing the stare from above to wait to see an eye peek open.
  2. My coffee! Aw, the smell and taste of that first sip of brewed coffee. A splash of hazelnut and the warm sensation that perks me up.
  3. Getting my morning phone calls from my kids. Sharing their day from the day before and what their plans are for day ahead. The everyday I love yous to fill my heart and put a smile on my face.
  4. Playing with Gracie in the pool or going for long trail walks.
  5. Ending the day with my husband and Gracie, with a good dinner and movie, a beautiful sunset by the beach or some good conversations under the stars and moonlight.

It doesn’t take much to make me happy. Some good conversations, laughter and love are what my happiest days are filled with. Oh, and maybe a little shopping 🛍.

Whatever your happy is, never stop!

Leisure

What animals make the best or worst pets?

beingmesober

What animals make the best/worst pets?

Hmmmm, I personally think dogs are the best , but I do love all animals except rodents. Yikes.

Animals are very intuitive and can be amazing support/therapy partners or just companions.

Birds are the worst. Although I love them, just not for a pet. They screech and make a horrible mess. The feed attracts mice and their feathers go everywhere! If you’re not with them constantly they pick their feathers off and you end up with a very unhappy bald bird. Did I mention if they’re flying loose they land in your mashed potatoes 🥔 🤔.  I know this from having a cockateil named Peppi. He would fly into my father’s dinner. Not fun! Its funny now but Peppi made dad real mad.

We said goodbye to Peppi and gave him to my grandfather who had the time to give and Peppi grew his feathers back. Peppi still was a frequent flyer and he learned to sing and stayed on gramps shoulder. They had a great bond. For gramps a bird was great, not so much for me or my dad, lmao 😆

Leisure

How would I improve my community?

beingmesober

How would you improve your community?

Our community consists of probably 30,000 people in the winter and jumps to over 100,000 in season. My husband and I live in a beach town just north of Toronto. The beach is beautiful, nature trails are so rustic and calming, a few restaurants, a few big box stores and lots of people with not much to do to  accommodate them through the winter months. Ghost town.

The main beach is being restored and revamped which is exciting. Its been the same for so many years and had gone down hill.  That is a huge improvement for our town. The next thing that needs improvement are the hotels/motels around town. I would consider getting volunteers to help bring life back to these places. Beautiful gardens. Donations to revive the interior finishes. Age limits on renters, no monthly rentals. I understand people need places to go but the upkeep has to be mandatory as well. Noone wants to drive by and see garbage, mattresses on their front porch, old ratty furniture outside. We need more people in our community to lend a hand to those less fortunate and help repair, rebuild and keep the community beautiful.

I’d love to have boutiques in our community.  Somewhere to shop for unique items. Maybe a cool coffee shop to visit after, other than the original Tim Hortons or Starbucks, one that you can’t wait to visit to sit and enjoy the atmosphere and delicious coffee.

There’s always improvements to be made in any community but what really matters is how the community bonds together and are proud to live there.

Do your part to help with the community you live in, together we can all make it better. Reach out to your neighbor and be kind to the people around you.

Together we win 🫶

Leisure, Mental Health

My favorite type of weather…

beingmesober

What is your favorite type of weather?

Let me start by saying my husband and I are Snowbirds, so I guess my favorite weather is sunny and warm with the smell of the ocean air. Sweet smell of cut grass and dewy mornings. Amazing sunsets by the water, wrapped in a shawl when the nights cool to a comfortable 70°. I love the way I feel in the sun and warmth. The smile and hellos from strangers because the weather has lifted their spirits.

However, I do love the odd rainy day to light my candles and have a zen day, to feel the calmness rain brings. Snow for Christmas and Fall for the colors and crisp mornings. The rejuvenation we feel when Fall has arrived awaiting what waits for us in the coming of a fresh start with nature and a new start for some of us.

Weather can be depressing at times and for long periods of time due to months of rain and/or cold, fridgid temps and isolation. Its important to have hobbies or distractions when weather isn’t ideal. There are options for getting through the cold, rainy, snowy months. Light therapy is a very helpful alternative to the actual sun. Join a gym, arrange a get together once a week, weather depending, to connect. Stock up on books and games.

Whatever your favorite weather is, soak it up and say Thank you to Mother Nature ✨️

Leisure, Uncategorized

From failure to success

beingmesober

How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?

Fail! Who wants to see that on a paper or class grades! Who wants to think of being a failure.  No one, but we do at times and it can be a horrible feeling.

When I knew I wanted to sell real estate my children were still young and I wanted to be there for them and knew that real estate would be a demanding career. So in 2009 I paid and signed up for the course. I was super excited to finally start my career.

I was still actively drinking at that time and failed the first phase 3 times! I quit and gave up and thought of myself as a failure and did the whole self sabotage thing.

My husband and I went on a trip with our good friends 3 months after I failed my exams, but I was also 3 months sober. Ugh, what a hard time that was as I look back. One evening when we were out my friend asked what was happening with my course and I told her I failed. She asked if I was enrolled again. I said no, I can’t do it. She turned to me and told me to sign up, to do it again, that I can do this if I really want it. You can do this she told me.

After returning home I signed up once again. I passed the 1st phase the second exam, the third phase on the first shot!! Whoohoo! The third phase took 2 tries, then the commercial side of it, I almost quit again after the 4th attempt at the exam. My daughter told me not to give up, that I’d come this far and that that is the advise I would give to her. Hmmm, how can I quit, I couldn’t.  If for nothing I had to keep going to show my children what determination and commitment looks like.

I finally did it!!! 2010 was the year I was a licensed Realtor!!! My dream came true. I was so proud of myself for sticking to it and not giving up. My kids were proud, my husband was proud and my friend was so proud.

My career was very successful and I did well. I loved the opportunity and experience of helping people move towards their dream. I felt like I had made it. I was something, I was smart and capable of anything I put my mind and effort into. Even after failing all those times it made me love and appreciate it more.

Failure isn’t failing. Its experience and allows us to do better. Failure gives us appreciation when we succeed, ✨️ its about not giving up, and getting back up, it shows how strong we are and how capable we truly are.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Leisure, Mental Health

What bores me..

beingmesober

What bores you?

When I was about 10, I told my dad one day as he was digging a huge trench for hedges around our new home, I told him I was bored! Man, was that a mistake. He looked at me and said, “You have a bike, a pool everything you want, and you’re bored”? “Ya, I said, “I dont want to do any of that.” He told me to grab a shovel and start digging and fill up the wheelbarrow, when I was full to take it down the road. Down the road wasn’t just 2 houses down, it was a good jaunt and I think I did about 10 loads. I was exhausted and made a mental note that day to never tell my dad I was bored.

Today however I sometimes get into a funk where I want to do so many things but can’t seem to get the motivation. Then, I feel bored! What is that? I don’t enjoy those days but I know they will pass.

Leisure

Most memorable road trip

beingmesober

Think back on your most memorable road trip.

My most memorable and favorite road trips have always been with my grandmother, my Aunt and cousin. We would use my dad’s van, which was so cool. It was custom made by my father and grandfather, a fitting name of Night Moves with loovers on all the windows, navy blue argyle patterned padded vinyl on the walls, a bunkie with doors that closed, a couch and mini fridge, even had a little counter and sink, amd of couse the nicest shag carpet!

All us girls would load up and hit the road to Atlantic City, or a smaller trip to our families resort trailer park or the long drives to Florida. It always makes me smile when I see those vans today that were the coolest in the 70s and 80s. But none of them can hold the memories of the road trips or the memories of that van. Night Moves was named after the song by Bob Segar, one of my fathers favorite singers and his favorite song.

The van, the name, the song, remind me of all the memorable moments that I cherish deeply.