Luxuriating In The "Done-ness"!

 My house cleaning that I started on Monday is FINALLY finished.  While there is something good to be said about taking my time and not doing too much in a day, the idea of spreading full house cleaning over a span of 3 days is not very encouraging! I am drawing joy though from knowing that by taking my time and only doing housework for a half day each of those 3 days I did a thorough job that will last for awhile. After moving all the living room furniture to roll, turn and clean the 9'X13' carpet in the living room this morning I admit I am rather tired now.  

Fortunately I have no commitments out of the house this afternoon so I may take advantage of that to watch an old movie, The Lavender Hill Mob. Oh how I am enjoying the Silver Screen, Turner Classic Movies and One channels.  Some of those old movies are pretty corny and cliche, many certainly FAR from "woke", but it is relaxing not having to prepare my mind to hear a string of gross expletives in the scripts and to not have to brace my brain for a visual onslaught of gory violence.  Many of those old movies actually relied on well written dialogue, actual story lines/plots, subtlety and excellent acting!  Rather different in all those ways from too many of the movies of today; only my own opinion of course, but that is how I feel, so there ya' go.....

Tomorrow I am going for a haircut...oh bliss.  I love getting my hair cut. I love the busyness of the salon, the hilarious conversations with the stylist, the bright lights and glitter, nearly breaking my neck bending my head backwards over the sinks...the totality of the whole experience appeals to me.  It makes me feel more "citified" and less like a rural prairie-ite. 

My husband made a huge pot of his delicious celery soup yesterday and today he is making a giant casserole of beef stew.  He is a wonderful cook and I certainly enjoy the foods he prepares.  Our usual arrangement holds: he cooks and I do the clean up.  Fortunately he doesn't make the kind of huge mess our son makes when he is chef'ing, so it isn't so bad washing up afterwards.  

After waking up to fog and the remnants of freezing drizzle overnight, the sun has broken through, the fog has dissipated and the sky is a beautiful shade of light blue.  Apparently we are going to enjoy warmer, sunnier days for the next week or so. It means I will be able to get out and walk starting tomorrow.  This afternoon will be taken up by the return of the exterminators to check the traps they and we set and I am pleased that no mice have been trapped nor evidence of mousies seen around the house for the past week.  Thank you Lord!!!! 

Gasoline Prices Here: What The Heck?

 I am bamboozled by the range of gasoline prices in our area over this past weekend. Within the city we saw gasoline prices per litre of $1.78, $1.66, $1.54 and at the reserve station we got in line to fill at $1.49. As we drove the highway heading west yesterday we saw gasoline priced at $1.78 and $1.88 and $1.99 and $1.68. 

I don’t know what changes in price per litre are happening today, but that kind of price range in this area is quite unusual. There doesn’t tend to be more than a two cent spread, along with a couple of discount stations priced between five and eight cents per litre cheaper than the rest. 

As I watched prices along the highway climbing to that $1.99 top end, I was ever so grateful we lined up the day before for the least expensive gasoline. It wasn’t a huge lineup, maybe a five minute wait and there was only a lineup at all because just 1/2 of the pumps dispensing Regular rather than Premium were operational. With a highway trip looming the day after we filled our car’s tank we are even more grateful to have found such a great price.

Foggy Dew And Diet Cola...Which Is Worse??

We had an hour's drive out of town this morning to attend the installation of a new priest for one of our former congregations.  There is warm air aloft as a new, kinder sort of weather system tries to move in. That meant a bit of a slow drive along the highway in thick fog.  Why so many drivers of  cars around here drive through fog that impairs  visibility without using their tail lights is beyond us.  It was extremely dangerous in the thickest patches of fog when a car would pass us already going too fast, then disappear only 50-60 feet in front of us, becoming completely invisible to us.  All we could do was try to peer through the gloom and pray that no one ahead of us in our lane was either stopped or going so slowly that we had to try to get around them as they wouldn't be able to be seen until the last second.  Eek!  I am so very grateful my husband volunteered to drive while I played look out.  While it was still foggy on the way home early this afternoon, at least the fog was well above ground level and it was quite easy to see all the surrounding traffic.  Remnants of two, two vehicle accidents along the highway proved us right to have been cautious on the drive.

I have been experimenting with various sorts of food and drink over the past six weeks to try to pin down what is giving me a scratchy, phlegm filled throat every time I consume it.  Over this past week I have finally discovered a growing negative reaction to diet cola....the only drink other than water that I can have, for one medical reason and another.....so, I guess now if I eat out somewhere I will be drinking water only, the same as at home. Sigh....yes, I know diet colas have their own issues as far as being less than healthy to drink, but when I can't have tea or coffee or juice or hot chocolate and "flavoured" carbonated waters make me nauseous, I am kind of out of options for variety.  Dang it....oh well....it is really good to know what has been causing this ever since a few weeks before we went to NYC in August.  I only drink diet cola when we eat out, never at home, so at least I don't have a cupboard full of the stuff I would have to get rid of to avoid temptation or have to waste product.

The sky has been dreary now for almost a week.  I will be glad when the sunshine arrives a couple of days from now, along with warmer day time high temperatures. I don't care that as of tomorrow night the over night temperatures will be consistently below zero finally, as long as the predicted day time highs of between +6C and +10C happen.  Here's to a lifting of the fog and dark clouds for at least a few more days before serious winter weather occurs. 

Hallowe'en Again? Already??

I confess I completely forgot about Hallowe'en today.  When a large group of kids started pounding on our back door at 5pm I was completely taken aback, but fortunately I realized why they were there before I got to the back door.  I was able to sneak away from the kitchen before they saw me and get out of sight until they left.  Have you ever tried to explain to a group of eager, excited, expectant children that you have absolutely nothing in stock to give them on their special "Gimme Gimme" day?  I couldn't face them.  They stood on our back porch for what seemed like hours between waiting for me to answer and comparing what each of them already had in their collection baskets before they finally sauntered back off the deck and on to the next door neighbour's place.

As soon as I was certain they were gone, I called to my husband to shut off the basement lights where he was trying to work, so the light wouldn't shine out through the two windows onto the back lawn, thereby attracting more trick-or-treat'ers.   He complied and less than five minutes later we sneaked out to our car and drove off to a pub where we put in nearly two hours of time sitting over our nachos and drinks until we thought it would be safe to go home again.  We knew all the wee kiddies would be back at home by 7:30pm and only a few of the older kids would still be wandering about.  Once home we managed to sneak back into the house unseen by a couple of groups of young teens, kept the lights turned out for another hour and then we finally relaxed, put the lights back on and resumed the tasks we had been in the midst of prior to the unexpected arrival of Group One.  Whew!  Dodged a huge bullet tonight. What a pair of wimps we are, scared to death of disappointing little kids over a handful of cheap, yukky candy. Sigh......

The pub was nearly deserted so we had great service and there was absolutely no call for us to rush away when we finished our small meal.  The music was playing over the speaker system at a bearable sound level and we quite enjoyed ourselves conversing with our bored and chatty waiter.  It was a very unexpectedly happy evening.

I wasn't feeling well most of the day today.  My tummy was not happy after lunch for some reason and it kept on roiling away all afternoon.  Not sure what caused the upset, but I knew having a fair number of jalapeno pepper rounds with my half of the nachos at dinner would settle it right down.  Yay, much better now!!  My tummy is calm again.

The only housework I managed to get to this afternoon was washing floors, bu t that is better than nothing. I will just have to work harder on Monday to get the vacuuming and dusting accomplished. No biggie..... Once that is done we will start phoning friends from the small group we used to attend and invite them over. There were  confused feelings among some of the other attenders when we had to leave, so assurances of continued happy relationship is required.  We have met with one couple already and it went well.  They are all lovely people but our other necessary commitments happen to coincide with the meeting day each month.

Looking forward to the rain overnight if it occurs because the overnight low is only going to be +4C apparently, meaning the moisture won't freeze.  No icy roads in the morning.  Amen!

 

 

Thirty Thousand Dollars In Fees Later….

 ….and our son’s card is good for ten years with the option to renew at that point if he doesn’t apply for citizenship. His wife has the same kind of card so that is most handy. I am figuring that after nearly ten years of past visas and renewals and appointments with immigration lawyers he has spent close to thirty thousand dollars to be able to live in a country where his career can thrive. Fortunately it is doing just that. 

I confess to being somewhat envious of him knowing from a fairly young age that he wanted to be an artist living in New York City. He has worked like a crazy person to make his dream come true. Doing his MFA upstate cemented his commitment to try to succeed there, and he never wavered in his attempts to hang in and keep trying no matter how difficult the first few years were.

Yes, I am a proud mama. It doesn’t matter how old the child, a mama is not afraid to admit she is proud of him. 

Since I Have At Least 5 Months Of Winter Ahead......

....I opted for going out this afternoon instead of doing housework!  YAY!  There is the entire winter season to be utilized for house cleaning indoors.  My husband agreed that I should make the most of every day I can get out of here before the snow and ice arrive in earnest.

I am very happy about my choice.  This morning my husband and I had a good visit and I did do some work in the kitchen  after breakfast....which wasn't until just after 10am because I fell asleep sometime after 7am and slept until after 9:30am.  I awoke surprisingly refreshed and full of energy.

When it was time for my husband to meet his friend for coffee he dropped me at a neighbouring shopping mall where I had a bite of lunch at a Montana's restaurant because their combo lunch specials are a great deal.  I have stopped taking my cane in the car so I got a fabulous walking workout after lunch as a stumped around in the mall after I ate.  I have not been in  a mall without a time pressure to leave in probably about 5 years. There were no other errands that had to be run.  I needed a few groceries, but there is a grocery store in the mall, so purchasing those was just a part of the whole excursion.  I lollygagged in I don't know how many ladies' wear stores, purchased two cardigan sweaters to go with my many sleeveless winter turtlenecked tops....when I downsized my winter wardrobe I got rid of a number of long sleeved, heavy fabric blazers I have been wearing since the Ark it seems. Even though all of them looked almost like new after several years of wear because they were good quality jackets, I am not comfortable with those styles any more and it felt good today to be able to replace them with a couple of lighter weight cardigans.  The other day as I looked at my winter tops I realized how many of them are sleeveless and needing to go under a long sleeved "something" to keep me warm.  

My husband texted me that he had arrived at the grocery store just before I was about to walk in there myself, so that was marvellous timing.  We pothered about in there for a long time, picking up  what we needed along with some unexpected sale items.  So, our fridge freezer is now packed!  It is going to be awhile before we have to purchase any more goods needing to be frozen until use.  

By the time we drove from the grocery store half way across the city to take advantage of the 15 cent per litre reduction in gasoline price at the northern reserve station, sat in the long lineup there and made it home again it was nearly time for dinner already!!  Over dinner we looked at a couple of mindless tv programmes that we mostly talked over top of. haha  We are bad for that if we are not particularly engaged in whatever is on the screen. That is okay if it is just the two of us but if there is anyone else there....well.....the poor dear folks tend to lose patience with us. hahahaha

Tomorrow my husband will be at an all day seminar, so I have another day to ponder on what to do.  With a mix of snow and rain possible overnight perhaps tomorrow is the day to stay home and begin cleaning house.  If I start tomorrow and finish up on Monday, we could easily invite some of our church acquaintances over for afternoon tea next week.  That would be fun.  We actually have a couple of afternoons free for visiting.   

A Day With No Out Of Home Commitments

Today is one of those rare days when I have no commitments away from 🏡 home and as usual it has meant waking up shortly after 4am all bright eyed, alert and ready for the day to begin. 😂 hahaha! So, also as is usual, I will likely be too tired to enjoy my day off from grocery shopping, bill paying, coffee partying, general errands, running about madly to medical appointments, house chores and church related activities. Oh well, it is good to know I can still get excited about a day of possible total relaxation. 

The past couple of days have been busy with laundry and ironing, running around town for various commitments and enjoying visits with friends. My coffee buddy and I met at the new Denny’s, which for all its small faults as it continues to work on getting organized and repairing the bathrooms, definitely has more comfortable seating for us “older gals” than our usual haunt at Creme.  Creme is rather more “gourmet” in its offerings though so we will not abandon the place, just trade off between the two locations. 

I could start cleaning house today and perhaps I will, but perhaps I won’t either. Having the choice of making my own plans feels like a luxury after a week with many appointments and necessary errands. 

I love days like this occasionally but am grateful most of my days are filled with activities, however plebeian they may be.

The snow has already melted, the temperature is set to rise a few degrees over the next few days and thus far predicted rain and snow amounts look to be relatively minor. November is nearly upon us, so that delights me. The lack of frozen rain thus far has been a treat….although I confess I would not object to a brief but violent snowstorm between 4pm and 9pm on Halloween night. No offence intended  to the kids wanting to dress up and go out for treats, but it is also a bad night for vandalism in our area so….

I am praying that a new contract proposition brought recently before members of the CUPE unionized health care workers will be accepted and ratified to prevent any more extended waits for upcoming surgeries and recovery physiotherapy protocols like my own. They have been working without a contract since  2023…not good!

My husband is meeting a friend for coffee this afternoon so I am wondering if I will choose to remain at home flopped out in front of the tv watching home renovation programmes or drop him off at the coffee bar and drive to a nearby mall for some window shopping. 🛒 Ahhhh, to have the choice feels good. A spontaneous sort of day is a treat as I am watching our calendar 📆 fill up ⬆️ once again with appointments for next week and the week after that.

I am going to enjoy my “little bit of this and a little bit of that” kind of day.