Христос народжується !

З Різдвом Христовим всіх вас !

Спасибі за наступні мій блог.

Okay that’s about it for the Ukrainian writing!  As you are aware, I am still learning about the cyrillic alphabet and basic Ukrainian language at the Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian School.  It has been a great year and in my humble opinion, we are learning a lot, as well as building up many personal friendships as we struggle with developing a better understanding of vocabulary and conjugating verbs, and, oh, I could go on and on.  To say the least, it’s mind-boggling but it is so much fun!

Tonight is Christmas Eve for many Ukrainians.  All day yesterday and part of today, I have been busy preparing for the Christmas Eve supper (Svyata Vecherya).  This supper is part of the celebrations.  But I had a wonderful day because of a very different reason. It may sound silly but I was able to tune in Ukrainian Christmas carols from the Dauphin radio station. All day long, these carols filled my kitchen.  I hummed and sang along while chopping onions, grinding poppy seeds and stirring the borscht.  It was very relaxing and brought a flood of memories back to me about growing up in the prairies.  

It would be great to be there now with my family and friends.  However, I think that the memories will be fine right now.  You see, it’s 8C here tonight and it is  -21C in Manitoba.  So I’ll think warm thoughts for everyone back there and pray that you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve, and that the temperatures rise as well.

Христос народжується !

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Happy New Year 2015 !

2014 had many terrific events but also a few that were not so wonderful for many of us, here in Canada and around the world.  There may be many things that you yourself want to just forget about or wish you could do over.  Unfortunately we cannot.  Maybe that’s why so many people make New Year Resolutions.

Before you begin thinking about making those 2015 resolutions, let’s all pause for a moment and just consider some of the simple yet fortunate events from this past year. Maybe you fell in love with that someone special?  Maybe you started a new job or retired?  Maybe you moved into a new house, a new town or city?  Some of you may have welcomed a new member into your family.  Is there a new baby to love or even a new puppy in your home?  Did you spend time with an elderly “someone special” in your family?  Did you get a chance to say “love you” just one more time?

This post sounds a bit gloomy so please, let me try to explain…

Last week during the Christmas activities, my brother told me that he and his family had been looking at old home videos.  He said that he felt sad watching them because so many of the people in them had passed away.  Then he asked me, “Wouldn’t be great to have a chance to talk to them again?  They could meet our children and grandchildren.  Wouldn’t it be great to share more time with them now?”

I told him that yes, it would certainly be nice but really, we shouldn’t have regrets.  We did spend many great years together when we were all growing up.  And anyway, my dear brother, how can anyone tell how much time is enough?

I suppose if any one of us has regrets, we may need to rethink how we spend our time every day.  Let’s not sit around and wish for more time.  Let’s do something about it, starting right now!

So here’s my New Year’s wish for you (or maybe it’s my resolution?):

Be happy with yourself and your accomplishments, big and small.

May you look back on your friend and family gatherings and be happy that you were able to visit with one another; you were able to enjoy lovingly prepared dinners together or, you were able to just share a hearty laugh or two.

Enjoy each day with everyone who is important to you now.

As my Man is known to say,  “There will never be a better day than today”!

Happy New Year!

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