So Many CiRCLES!

"Friends, you and me...you brought another friend...and then there were three...we started our group...our circle of friends...and like that our circle of friends... there is no beginning or end."
-Eleanor Roosevelt


"If you love someone, put their name in a circle; because hearts can be broken, but circles never end."
-Author Unknown


"In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us."
-Flora Edwards


"The next best thing to being wise oneself, is to live in a circle of those who are."
-C.S. Lewis

Mariah was so proud to show me the collauge on her kindergarten
classroom wall on Friday when I picked her up.
This shows the little FAMiLY CiRCLE she lives in.
I love that it not only has her family ... but also includes stickers!
She has begun to make many little CiCLES of FRiENDS now at Kindergarten, too.

Here is a pic of Jana and Mariah at
Jana's store, SWANK SHOE LOUNGE on Friday
where Jana sells lots of cool footwear to the
CIRCLE of shoe buyers out there!
I love the new photos on the store walls.  

I zoomed in on this sign on their wall at SWANK SHOE LOUNGE,
A great little saying for the CIRCLE of LIFE! 

Here is BEAU with the daycare giver, when I picked him up on Friday.
Beau's little circle of friends is now growing  too! 

Here is Beau laying on his kitchen floor
surrounded by the many circles/polka dots on my socks! 

Sweet little BEAU playing happily in his own little room
on Friday after I got him from daycare.
His big brown eyes are like two big CICLES!

I know I have posted this pic a few times in my blog before
but it seemed appropriate... because not only was this photo taken a year ago yesterday,
October 15th, 2010...
But it is my one and only photo with all of us in it.
My mom, my kids and my grandkids...4 generations of the CIRCLE of LiFE.
This was also the very last photo ever taken of my mom,
she passed away 10 days later. 

This card sort of portrays many CiRCLES for me ...
My love of cards, crafting, tap, polka dots,
Starbucks
and MEMORiES!
(Even the Starbucks symbol is a CIRCULAR shape!)

A CiRCLE kind of memory for me...
One of my tap classes at BSOBAD in the fall of 2007.
A little CiRCLE of TAPPiNESS!!!

Another CiRCLE filled memory for me ...
Working at JAMMEEZ!
so many circles on so many bags.

Not surprising that one of the very many THEMES
I chose for dance exams REVOLVED
AROUND CiRCLES and POLKA DOTS!
Tap Exams 2008.

SPOT the fun in this photo of a CiRCLE of relatives!
This photo was one taken in November of 2008
Here L. to R. are
My cousin GWEN, my AUNTIE BETTY,
 my sister-in-law, ARLEEN, and my cousin, JAN.
We all met to hear my Cousin Jan sing in Winnepeg... such a fun memory!
(All holding polka dot bags I gave them from the JAMMEEZ store!)




Today as I thought about a new THEME for my blog, the thought of CiRCLES came to mind.

Yesterday morning at my
8:30 AM Body Vive class...
I ran into my friend and former boss, LORI, 
from the JAMMEEZ store where 
I used to work for a while .
It got me thinking of all the fun memories I had while working there amongst the many many polka dots...and introducing me to a whole new CiRCLE of friends! It was like working in a little POLKA DOT WORLD!!!

For those of you who do not know of this store, it sold polka dot bags and purses of every size shape and style imaginable along with many fun accessories and ofcourse, ... "JAMMEEZ"!
This store went out of business around this time of year last fall ...October 2010.

Lori, the owner, did that as a side line to her other job of teaching kindergarten. Infact, she even taught Mariah and Beau's dad, NELS, back when he was in kindergarten!
SMALL WORLD!

So this got me thinking of all the circles of friends I have had in the CIRCLE of my LIFE!

When I began to think of it... there are just
SO MANY CIRCLES!

And for those of you who know me,
you know I LOVE a CiRCLE...
because when added together
circles create polka dots!!!!

Anyhow... yesterday I started to chat with a friend on FB, (Arlene), when another friend on FB, (Joan), mentioned she was going to Starbucks for coffee!
I actually met Arlene on FB last year
 and we have become 
good friends and soul mates ever since!
Joan's daughter's danced at my studio, 
years ago, but Joan and I reconnected on FB last summer and have been connecting for meals and coffees ever since!
Joan and I enjoyed a nice visit yesterday over a Starbucks latte!


Later, Brian and I met with friends,
Cal and Julie, for supper.
Which once again got me thinking about all the CIRCLES of friends I know... and all the memories attached to them.
Cal and Julie used to run the little coffee shop, called JAVA ZONE, by my dance studio.... 
which I went to a lot back in the day!
Their daughter Chelsea danced for many years at my studio, as well.

This morning, Brian and I went for our traditional Sunday morning breakfast at Fuddruckers and sat with more friends from yet another CiRCLE!
Dance teacher friend, Joanne and her parents, Brenda and Earl asked us to join them.
We had quite the conversation about how technology is changing the world of communications. It still revolved around my theme of the CIRCLE once again!

We often meet friends Bob and Jacquie there and or Darryl and Gail...
also from different circles of friends!

OH.... my lists and circles are endless... from immediate family  to close friends and neighbours, to dance friends, school friends, kid's friends, grandkids friends, FB friends, friends through jobs, friends of friends, 
etc, etc!!!
The more friends... the bigger the circle... the more circles... the more polka dots!!!

 I posted the picture above of me with my mom, my kids and my grandkids taken in the hospital on OCTOBER 15th, 2010. It is such a cherished photo for me because it holds such a memory of this time and lead up to mom's passing last year. My son, Colin, (who really dislikes being in a photo), was home from Montreal 
visiting us for his first time in nearly 3 years.
That was a special visit.
He was home for the celebration of his other grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary, but also got his last chance to see my mom,
then too.

This was just one of those memories in the CiRCLE of LiFE
that I will hold so close to my heart forever.

Today we will once again enjoy some of our
FAMiLY CiRCLE.
Brian is making some lasagne for us today.
Jana, Nels, Mariah, Beau and my brother Brian will come over and join us for 
a supper together.

So in the many circles of friends and family I am blessed to be a part of near and far, it reminds me just how many circles there really are in the world and in my own little
CiRCLE of LiFE I revolve around in!


Family celebrations continue...
My in-laws, BLANCHE and GREG,
will celebrate their 
61st Wedding Anniversary tomorrow.


My niece, EMILY, will celebrate her 15th Birthday on Tuesday.


Wishing all of them HAPPINESS as they celebrate their special days and milestones.

... which brings me AROUND
to my poem of the day!

I like circles... because they are round!
And also the connections to so much,
I've found.
In my life, I'm lucky to have so many friends,
So many circles... and so many blends,
The reasons I know them, and I get along,
Makes my life feel like it's
one big round song!
The singing and music are different it seems,
But surely revolve around all of my dreams.
My family circle and circles of friends,
Add verses to my life song
that just never ends.
It's good and it adds some variety, too,
As I go around with all that I do.
So circles are round and they also are fun,
They're like many polka dots, and I have a ton!
I never get tired of things that have dots,
Dots are like circles and they can grow lots.
I'd rather have lots, than not to have any....
I really think one just can not have too many!