The Bad, Sadly, With The Good

 I tend to think of life as a series of balances and counterbalances, good and evil, clarity and confusion,  joy and sorrow, and any other opposites you can think of that apply to life in general, all working for and against each other, leaving us in a constant state of flux. We certainly experienced that  emotionally today late in the afternoon when some bad news from friends arrived in our Inbox to counterbalance the wonderful good news we had this morning.

We went for a wind blown 3km walk this afternoon so my husband could get his new glasses. It seemed like a lovely way to cap off our earlier good news day.

However when we arrived home we received messages from two different women we are very close to, letting us know their husbands are both heading off to various labs and hospitals for medical testing for situations that on first thought don't seem particularly positive.  One fellow is needing testing for some ongoing symptoms and the other has already been tested, only to be told he has "spots", possible lesions, on his liver after several miserable years of intense treatments and scary drug injections to control his skin cancer.   We are rather upset to say the least.  These couples have been dear friends for several decades and as we all are reaching "that age" where longer term medical "stuff" begins to happen, we are all examining our mortality more closely.  Sheesh...we just returned from seeing a handful of friends in AB who are, like us, also showing signs of advancing age.  Here we go, heading into this final phase of life.  It is quite a feeling!

A Good News (We Think Anyway) Kind Of Day Thus Far!

This morning as I was brushing my teeth I began to wonder how much longer I should wait to hear from the surgeon's office about setting up a pre-op consultation.  I hate pestering the office manager about these things, but then I thought maybe I should just let her know we are back from our trip and she can now reach me on both phone numbers again once the schedule for November is being set up, but then I thought maybe I could wait a couple of more days, or even into next week just in case she called me as we had agreed upon originally....but THEN I was overwhelmed with a feeling that I should put my toothbrush down and make the call IMMEDIATELY!  It was such a strong feeling that I did just that.

Sputtering toothpaste foam all over the phone as I dialed in, I managed to clear my mouth of toothpaste sufficiently to speak coherently when the office manager answered.  I explained who I was and that I was back in Regina so could now be reached on our landline as well as my mobile.  The manager told me she was glad I was back and that she could actually book my pre-op consult right then and there.  A few seconds later I was off the phone and now I am very excited that I have an appointment the second week of November!  YIPPEE!!!!  AND since all his afternoon appointments at the usual space in the cast clinic at the hospital are booked up until the end of the year, she has made an appointment for me to see him for an early morning appointment in his own office instead. Glory be and Hallelujah and Yippee and Wahoo and all other expressions of happy excitement.

Thank you friends and prayer partners who have been praying with me about this since this past summer. It is is delightful news. I am so grateful.

In other HOPEFULLY, POSSIBLY, EXPECTING IT TO BE good news:  our son had his final huge interview for his card this morning. The woman who interviewed him was very kind and told him she wants to approve his card for certain, BUT the one glitch...of course there is always one of those in bureaucratic dealings isn't there.....is that he has a special government issued permission to have overstayed the end of his last visa and required a special letter from his immigration lawyer confirming the validity of his current status in their country.  That he has, but now of course the supervisor of the interviewer has to see this documentation and give final approval. Sigh....there is always SOMETHING ELSE isn't there? So my stressed out son and his wife are once again sweating it out, with my son trying to trust God for the outcome but struggling because he is human like the rest of us and can't help wondering what God is really going to do.  

He is most grateful for our little band of prayer warriors in THIS country and Mama Bear here is equally grateful for all the support our family has received over the years from all of you. Bless you "real good"! 

 

 

Home!🏠

We were awake at 5:30am, on the road at 7am. The drive dragged on for what seemed like hours, although we arrived home in our usual time of 8 hours. Since we had eaten breakfast in the hotel at 6am we were ready for lunch around 10am, so we stopped in Medicine Hat, got turned around trying to find a breakfast restaurant we KNEW still existed, finally found it, ate quickly and found our way back to the highway where we soon found ourselves trapped temporarily behind a huge, wide house being moved across the province. In the process of stopping for gasoline, a drink from a fast food restaurant, bathroom breaks and changing drivers, we ended up behind that crazy wide load FOUR times. Hahaha….if you have never played cat and mouse with a wide load on a major highway before I would not recommend it! 

Driving for eight hours through flat prairie with variegated shades of brown in the fields and medians, broken only occasionally by small stands of trees still covered in deep yellow leaves, the lack of sleep, the dread of oncoming winter, and the realization this will be our last trip for months to come all combined to leave us feeling worn completely out by the time we drove into our parking spot at home. BUT: the sky was blue with incredible cloud formations, the weather was unseasonably warm, the breezes under control for a change, not one threat of snow, so unusual for this time of year. It was lovely to be able to be free to be at peace instead of fretting about driving onto an invisible 🫥 patch of black ice on the highway. What a blessing.

We ate a light dinner tonight…at 4pm….and my husband was in bed for the night at 5:30pm. I always struggle with “road buzz” when riding along the highway for that many hours and now, just before 10pm, my head has finally stopped buzzing and the light headedness has disappeared. Guess I too should get to sleep now. 

Grateful for our amazing trip, being able to honour Aunty, visit with so many relatives and friends and experience the amazing weather and driving conditions. 

Unlike Our Return From Most Other Out Trips…..

 ….I am actually ready and happy to go home this time. Over the month we were in NYC I realized I was starting to miss my friends as the weeks went by and it was good to see them again. Then it was time to travel again, so soon after our initial return that, while we have only been gone for a week, I am missing them all over again! Hahaha…..

It has been good to have this extra trip worked into our schedule before winter arrives because it is taking the edge off the stress impending winter strikes us with every year, even though the reason for the trip was a family funeral! Unfortunately we were not able to see all our old friends in this area, but we have a list of their names written out and they will be our priority visits next time we are out, hopefully late next spring.

We are grateful for the great amount of “Cousin Time” we had, for the beautiful memorial tributes to Aunty’s life and for the handful of friends we did have time to see. 

Looks like we are going to have decent weather for our drive home as well. That is a near miracle for this time of year and for that we are extremely grateful!

An Apparently Answered Prayer! Yay!

Dear prayer warrior friends: a number of posts ago I asked if you would pray for Nan who has been dealing on a new residence she has had her eye on for several years, purchase being contingent on her being able to sell her house by the end of this month. Her offer has been accepted because after only two days on the market she got an offer at over asking; this happening in a smaller city with over 80 houses listed in a market that is barely moving right now. The buyers have asked only for an appraisal to be completed so that is in the works. If you could keep her in mind for a few more days while she and her realtor await the appraisal results, she would appreciate it. Selling her house in the ridiculously short  time the sellers of the new place gave her seemed next to impossible, but it seems God has his plans for her to move into her long hoped for home. Hallelujah! It is so encouraging to receive a YES isn’t it? Noes and Yes Buts are ok too, because God has his own ways, but a clear YES is a special joy.

Bless you all. I will let you know the final outcome when it happens.

The Joy Of Seeing Friends From Home Here In Their New Place!

We had a lovely visit last night with Regina friends who moved here a couple of years ago. Mobility issues prevent them from returning to Regina very often, so it was quite a treat to visit and share a meal together. It made this now over crowded, too bustling city feel like a friendly place again; as did dinner the previous evening with one of my husband’s most long term friends and former mountain climbing buddy. In the midst of the insane city the little old Calgary of my childhood has become there have been warm spots.

Today is our final day of visiting old friends here before we head home tomorrow. Thus far the weather has been fantastic and if the forecast holds for tomorrow the trip will be one of the only return trips in recent years where we have not been driving back to SK in some kind of ice blizzard…..(but don’t stop praying for good weather because this close to the mountains things can change in a matter of a couple of hours! Thanks!)

The Rockies To The West

When we first arrived in Calgary the mountains to the west of us were covered in a fresh dump of clean, bright new snow. Now, as we look out the windows of our hotel room, the peaks have lost that pristine white gleam and have returned to their brown jaggedness. The sky above is light autumn blue and this morning there are few clouds in sight. It is another lovely day near the foothills. We have no visiting commitments until later this afternoon and will watch our home church service online this morning. Speaking of which, I had best get going if I am going to get connected on time!