The Man in Black

Hi there - if you live in or near the GTA and are looking for a night out consider "The Man In Black - A Tribute to Johnny Cash" playing at the Panasonic Theatre on Yonge Street until the 27th. Honestly, even if you are not a country & western fan this is a great performance. Shawn Barker plays Cash and he stays in character until the very last number. He looks and sounds like Cash. They strip down (instruments I mean) to demonstrate how the band grew from a small gig to the sound that brought Cash a number one hit after his death. The entire band sings 31 songs and they perform ever number sounding like Johnny Cash. Check it out if you can - especially if you are in or near my age bracket!

Carol Ann

Rewired not Retired!

This grainy photo (circa 1963) is of me walking to my neighbours because my classmate, George White, was going to drive me to school in his very own car - lovely isn't it?

Following school we work and following work comes retirement or is it rewirement given that we may go from one job to another - whatever that other job might be?

When I retired from Bell Canada in 1994 I wanted to find a word to replace the word retirement. The word itself needs to be retired. I recently heard this time of my life described "rewirement" and I love the expression. We actually do rewire our brain, our thinking and our lives when we leave one job and move to the next. Gone are the days when we leave a job to stay at home full-time and simply say "I have retired." We work, we travel, we volunteer, we spend more time with family (and our new grandchildren!) and we do literally whatever we want within our means.

I am on a mission to capture lessons from rewired friends out there who feel they have a story to share that can help others as they reach this stage of life. It can be inspirational, educational, informative or even funny - it can be anything you might like to share. For example, I am beginning to receive documents from the Government as I reach "that age" outling what I will be eligible to receive compliments of the Government. Lots to learn and I am sure many of you have learned these lessons already so let's document some detail for those close behind us in age.

It might be fun.

Carol Ann

Power of Women Conference - April 2nd Cornwall

For those of you living in or around the Cornwall area I will be in your town on Saturday April 2nd speaking at the Best Western Inn & Conference Centre. Event time is 9 am - 3 pm and you can find all the details by going to http://www.wecornwallarea.ca/ Or, contact me directly if you like at http://www.carolanncole.com/ Registration is open to everyone.

I would love to see you there.

Carol Ann

Expedia Cruise Ship Centers Richmond BC &Toronto

January in Richmond BC and February in Toronto I had the opportunity to give a keynote address at a rally/gala event hosted by Expedia Cruise Ship Centers. In Toronto I sat with the Cambridge Expedia Cruise Ship Center team - the first photo here is with Lynnette Earle and we dined with owners Judy and Randy Bradford, Les Rolt, Wendy Chamberlain, Betty Brohman and Fred Mercer from the corporate office in Vancouver. I enjoyed a wonderful evening with this team - clearly they love working together, they love what they do and they LOVE cruising! My Comfort Hearts are now part of a fundrasing program with Expedia and I am hopeful that we will sell thousands and thousands of Comfort Hearts together and raise lots of money for breast cancer research. So far almost 1500 Comfort Hearts have been purchased so we are off to a good start.

The other two pictures were taken by Expedia's Senior Designer Josephine Olivier who very kindly shared them with me so I could share with you.

I hope you are having a good weekend.

From the heart,

Carol Ann

Family photos

I have just spent a few wonderful days with Tracey, James, Jalen and Lexi. Jalen loves his little sister and she is already smiling at him. While I was there Jalen brought home an excellent report card so we celebrated his success over dinner. He excels at math and loves activity books with a focus on math and mazes - not that those two are necessarily connected. He is reading at an advanced level - do I sound like a typical proud Nana? Can't help it!

CA

Okay Okay Happy Valentine's day to you!

I can laugh at it now, but as an 18 year old it was not the least bit funny. As I was passing by a card shop window in North Bay Ontario I stopped to watch the love of my life selecting a card that I was certain would be for me. It was Valentine's Day after all and we had a date for later that evening. I walked up behind beautiful-Alec (and he was beautiful!) to surprise him as he stood at the cashier's counter. To my surprise and horror he was paying for not one but two cards that shouted "Happy Valentine's Day to my one and only!" Yowza that hurt. I got over it - and him.

Single women out there don't dispare - we can buy our own chocolates yes? A very good friend of mine is in surgery as I type this and I pray that in a few days I will be delivering chocolates to her in her hospital room and wishing her well from all of her former Bell friends, church friends and the many other friends who grace her life. Today is not all about a valentine.

Love
Carol Ann

Lexi practicing her "tummy time"

Lexi will be one month old on Sunday!

Anything is possible

As you know I do a bit of volunteer work at GNC. Currently I am working with a number of the Club members who are writing their life story. Louis has a story to tell indeed and I have encouraged him to work on a book proposal - and over the past few months he has done that. We submitted his proposal to a publisher and while the response was not "yes" it was not "no" either. The publisher replied saying that he would need to read the entire manuscript before making a decision re whether or not he would be interested in publishing Bender's Life.

Now you might think this is alot of work for something that may never be published, but I suggest that if you have a story to tell you should put it on paper. If nothing else, give it to your family. And you never know, there might be a publisher out there interested in your story!

For at least one member of the Good Neighbours' Club I think this is a very good day.

Carol Ann

Jalen at ages 4, 5 and 6

These are Jalen's JK, Senior K and Grade 1 school photos. I spoke with Moms and Dads in Vancouver last weekend and we each had stories about how fast our kids and grandkids are growing up. I promised Jalen's school photos so here they are..........

Carol Ann

Super Bowl Sunday

I almost attended a Super Bowl party today.

Years ago, very early in my exec days with Ma Bell I had a hard time being quiet when an invitation to a major sporting event meant I was expected to sit "with the wives who didn't enjoy sports" while the guys enjoyed the game. Even when, as a VP with Bell, I hosted guests in the Bell box at a Jay's game I was not easily recognized as "in charge." One evening we invited Don Cherry and Bobby Orr and almost immediately upon arrival Cherry asked, "Who are you with darlin?" and then he proceeded to ask me for a refill each time his beer bottle was empty. We laughed in the end and Orr and I talked at length about women in business in the 80s. Eventually it was recognized that I really do enjoy sports and when you invite me to a game, understand I am there to watch the game! (This is beginning to sound like a rant but hear me out...)

I have seen this change somewhat over the years. Women are known to enjoy sporting events for...the sporting event...not for the men at the bar! At least some of the time.

So, back to today, friends of mine invited me to one of my former 'hoods to watch the Super Bowl and visit with friends. A few days ago Buddy called to ensure I would be there. He said, and I quote, " The wife (I hate that expression) really hopes you come because she wants to talk to you about cancer while the guys are watching the game." I told my good friend that my decision would be posted on my blog this morning.

Make that a Super Bowl party for one in my case....

CA
PS It's all in fun Buddy - but can you see the lesson I am hoping you will learn here??? Please tell you wife to call me AFTER the game.

Saturday - school for Jalen

Jalen has a ski class every Saturday - and sometimes a ski race too! Early this morning before he and his dad took of for the slopes he paused to practice his hockey moves - even his long-johns have a hockey theme. He loves both skiing and hockey and I wonder if one will win over the other at some point in time?

I won't post a picture of Lexi today. I am mindful that Jalen was an only child for six years and I want to ensure I give him lots of one-on-one time and space in my life.

Love

Carol Ann

Family update

Lexi is enjoying life in her chair for the first time today - clearly she is very alert this morning and keeping an eye on something or someone! She is three weeks old now. They do grow so fast don't they? I know that is a much over-used expression but in this picture on the left Jalen was so much younger than his six years of age today yet it seems like yesterday. He loves his little sister and I am capturing his comments about her. They are so funny and so loving at the same time.