Thanks to those who asked what the mysterious “spork” is that my husband husband purchased a couple of days ago.
To explain: a spork is a lightweight plastic eating utensil for camping, or for taking in your airplane carry on bag if you think you will be eating something post security check that requires utensils, since you can’t get on the plane carrying metal ones.
A spork is a short handle with one spoon shaped end and one fork tyne’d end, one side of an outer tyne having a serrated edge like a dinnerware knife.
Handy dandy!
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
For Me Personally, This Prayer Answer Is Huge!
Many people must have been on their knees yesterday and last night asking for mercy from God to protect us from the next round of freezing rain that was supposed to show up overnight. It is now 1:30pm the next day and there really hasn't been much. I had errands to run very early this morning and discovered a few scattered drops of frozen rain on my car windshield, but the air temperature was all ready warm enough (+1C) that they thawed again in seconds when I put on the heat and fan inside the vehicle. A round of sleet was supposed to arrive at 11am...again, nothing. Right now we have some light snowfall, mostly just small flakes drifting about in the strong winds, but it is all ready -7C, on its way to an overnight of -18C, so by the time the moisture fell from the clouds it was cold enough to freeze. There has been no noticeable freezing rain anywhere in this city that I have had to travel today. Thank you Lord!!
Yes, I know the weather didn't necessarily change because of prayer, but there is never anything wrong with giving God credit for his love and mercy at any time, for any reason. Whether or not prayers of petition to God were responsible for the lack of freezing rain, I am very, very grateful to him that we didn't get what was forecast. I am not afraid now to go to the theatre tonight after dark.
Yesterday when we were shopping in my husband's favourite browsing stores, he refused to purchase both the remaining pair of warm socks hanging on the rack in Peavey Mart. He only bought one pair. I understand that because he has trouble finding socks that are comfortable on his calves and hadn't tried this particular brand or style previously. When he put them on last night and wore them for a trial couple of hours, he declared them perfect and wished he had purchased the last pair. He also decided to give one of the headlamps from Princess Auto to a friend who is moving on and that my husband is putting together a gift bag for. That meant he would have to find time very soon to get back to Princess Auto for another lamp before they sold out. He also regretted not having purchased two of the toques he loves, instead of just one, because Princess Auto is the only place he has found here that carries that style, and then only occasionally. The price of the toques was so low as to be almost ridiculous.
So, guess where I went at 8am today? Yup, back to those two stores to pick up the things he regretted not having purchased more of yesterday. I didn't tell him I was going to do it, I just went and bought the things before circling back across the city to do the banking I told him I was going to do! So there!! Gotcha dear husband!! What you don't know, you can't argue with me about!!! Of course he is thrilled and no end of happy that I did that. SOMETIMES dear, I get it right. Yay!! We are facing retirement and so I believe it is best to pick up things now, particularly when they are on sale for such fabulous clearance/loss leader prices, while my husband is still working. I had a blast doing it. Stumbled across my favourite pretzel buns as well when I went to the grocery store for cereal....always nice to discover them in that store as they are only put out on their bakery shelves a couple of times a week.
The sky was a cloudless, pale winter blue as I left home this morning, no indication of what was to come a couple of hours later when the sky very quickly filled with light grey clouds, the wind gusted up to nearly 90km for almost an hour and then the bit of snowfall arrived. Now the sky is lightening again, the clouds are headed west, the wind is settling down and the light snowfall has nearly stopped. It is going to be clear and very cold for about a week, maybe some snow on Friday. This what I both love and dread about winter on the prairies: the quick changes in temperatures, wind conditions and moisture. We can experience as many as three or four completely different weather patterns careening through here in the course of a single day. It is always fascinating to see what is going to happen next!
I am hearing excellent reports about the Globe Theatre production of Around the World in 80 Days that I am going to tonight. Having dinner first with the other women is as much fun for me as the play. It should be a great evening.
Yes, I know the weather didn't necessarily change because of prayer, but there is never anything wrong with giving God credit for his love and mercy at any time, for any reason. Whether or not prayers of petition to God were responsible for the lack of freezing rain, I am very, very grateful to him that we didn't get what was forecast. I am not afraid now to go to the theatre tonight after dark.
Yesterday when we were shopping in my husband's favourite browsing stores, he refused to purchase both the remaining pair of warm socks hanging on the rack in Peavey Mart. He only bought one pair. I understand that because he has trouble finding socks that are comfortable on his calves and hadn't tried this particular brand or style previously. When he put them on last night and wore them for a trial couple of hours, he declared them perfect and wished he had purchased the last pair. He also decided to give one of the headlamps from Princess Auto to a friend who is moving on and that my husband is putting together a gift bag for. That meant he would have to find time very soon to get back to Princess Auto for another lamp before they sold out. He also regretted not having purchased two of the toques he loves, instead of just one, because Princess Auto is the only place he has found here that carries that style, and then only occasionally. The price of the toques was so low as to be almost ridiculous.
So, guess where I went at 8am today? Yup, back to those two stores to pick up the things he regretted not having purchased more of yesterday. I didn't tell him I was going to do it, I just went and bought the things before circling back across the city to do the banking I told him I was going to do! So there!! Gotcha dear husband!! What you don't know, you can't argue with me about!!! Of course he is thrilled and no end of happy that I did that. SOMETIMES dear, I get it right. Yay!! We are facing retirement and so I believe it is best to pick up things now, particularly when they are on sale for such fabulous clearance/loss leader prices, while my husband is still working. I had a blast doing it. Stumbled across my favourite pretzel buns as well when I went to the grocery store for cereal....always nice to discover them in that store as they are only put out on their bakery shelves a couple of times a week.
The sky was a cloudless, pale winter blue as I left home this morning, no indication of what was to come a couple of hours later when the sky very quickly filled with light grey clouds, the wind gusted up to nearly 90km for almost an hour and then the bit of snowfall arrived. Now the sky is lightening again, the clouds are headed west, the wind is settling down and the light snowfall has nearly stopped. It is going to be clear and very cold for about a week, maybe some snow on Friday. This what I both love and dread about winter on the prairies: the quick changes in temperatures, wind conditions and moisture. We can experience as many as three or four completely different weather patterns careening through here in the course of a single day. It is always fascinating to see what is going to happen next!
I am hearing excellent reports about the Globe Theatre production of Around the World in 80 Days that I am going to tonight. Having dinner first with the other women is as much fun for me as the play. It should be a great evening.
Monday, January 29, 2018
The Whole Enchilada...Almost All That Is....
My husband darned near got his entire day off today. We had a good day! We ate breakfast late and pothered about all morning here at home. Then we headed off about noon to run some errands. It was fun watching my husband enjoying the rare occasion to wander aimlessly about in Peavey Mart and Princess Auto. He looked at EVERYTHING! haha
He did discover some amazing bargains at Princess Auto: headlamps for wearing during power outages or changing a flat tire in the dark, warm woolly socks, suede mittens to wear over his wool mitts and protect them, a spork for ⛺️ camping, and a few other small items. I found a deal on belts for myself at Peavey Mart: two belts for the price of one and with the flat buckle I haven’t been able to find on womens’ belts. Heck of a good deal!
In the midst of our errands and shopping my husband announced he was ravenously hungry. Since he flirted with a gall bladder attack after breakfast today, the first flirtation since his terrible attack a few weeks ago, we knew he had to eat immediately or he would be on trouble. We crossed the lot where we were parked and headed into the nearest open on Mondays restaurant: a fast food style Korean/Japanese fusion. We were in such a hurry we didn’t even notice the name of the place on the way in! (Or out either!) I think it is called “Wasabi” or similar name. Anyway, we have had worse sushi and teriyaki chicken 🍱. This food was at least edible, unlike some Asian foods here, and it calmed my husband’s tummy. I doubt we will go back, but it was good enough and the prices were reasonable.
My husband put in a couple of hours of work this evening so he can take the day off tomorrow, in lieu of the last long weekend day off he did not get to take. By dinner time tonight he had badly swollen glands behind his ears, on his forearms and thighs: chronic fatigue symptoms at their best. Although he has pretty much conquered the nerves and depression that accompany CFS episodes, catching up on decent rest will take longer. He needs the extra day to rest so he can be filled with sufficient energy and a clear mind for the very busy rest of this week. I am so pleased he is able to have this day off to regain momentum for all the meetings he has later in the week. Thank you Lord! He is nearly his cheery self again after a rough three months. The symptoms will likely not drag on too much longer. After over thirty years of CFS we know the progression and regression of his symptoms pretty well.
Freezing rain is predicted overnight again. Rats! I spent time this evening in prayer asking if we could be delivered from that this time. I have to go out twice tomorrow and do not want to spend those times terrified. I mean, there is no harm in asking!
Time to get to sleep after a happy day together.
He did discover some amazing bargains at Princess Auto: headlamps for wearing during power outages or changing a flat tire in the dark, warm woolly socks, suede mittens to wear over his wool mitts and protect them, a spork for ⛺️ camping, and a few other small items. I found a deal on belts for myself at Peavey Mart: two belts for the price of one and with the flat buckle I haven’t been able to find on womens’ belts. Heck of a good deal!
In the midst of our errands and shopping my husband announced he was ravenously hungry. Since he flirted with a gall bladder attack after breakfast today, the first flirtation since his terrible attack a few weeks ago, we knew he had to eat immediately or he would be on trouble. We crossed the lot where we were parked and headed into the nearest open on Mondays restaurant: a fast food style Korean/Japanese fusion. We were in such a hurry we didn’t even notice the name of the place on the way in! (Or out either!) I think it is called “Wasabi” or similar name. Anyway, we have had worse sushi and teriyaki chicken 🍱. This food was at least edible, unlike some Asian foods here, and it calmed my husband’s tummy. I doubt we will go back, but it was good enough and the prices were reasonable.
My husband put in a couple of hours of work this evening so he can take the day off tomorrow, in lieu of the last long weekend day off he did not get to take. By dinner time tonight he had badly swollen glands behind his ears, on his forearms and thighs: chronic fatigue symptoms at their best. Although he has pretty much conquered the nerves and depression that accompany CFS episodes, catching up on decent rest will take longer. He needs the extra day to rest so he can be filled with sufficient energy and a clear mind for the very busy rest of this week. I am so pleased he is able to have this day off to regain momentum for all the meetings he has later in the week. Thank you Lord! He is nearly his cheery self again after a rough three months. The symptoms will likely not drag on too much longer. After over thirty years of CFS we know the progression and regression of his symptoms pretty well.
Freezing rain is predicted overnight again. Rats! I spent time this evening in prayer asking if we could be delivered from that this time. I have to go out twice tomorrow and do not want to spend those times terrified. I mean, there is no harm in asking!
Time to get to sleep after a happy day together.
Surprises In My Purse....EEK!!
A couple of weeks ago I bought a new purse, so this morning I was pulling everything out of the purse I have been using for the past three weeks and discovered a couple of personal items that I didn't recognize: a half used tube of lip cream and a plastic dental flosser....YUCKO!!!! Where on earth did they come from???
I went and asked my husband if they were his, 'cause you never know with husbands and their wives' "dumping grounds" purses, right? He had never seen them before either.
So, now I am wracking my brain to think where I could possibly have been in the past three weeks where I left my purse unattended long enough for someone to drop something into it...in the very inside pocket where I keep my own lip balm and packet of string floss. I can't come up with anywhere at all. When I go out my purse never leaves my side, or my lap, or is sitting beside me on a restaurant booth seat or church pew with my coat folded over the top of it, keeping the purse out of sight....maybe I abandon it long enough to go forward to the altar for the Eucharist on Sunday mornings. Somewhere, at some point in recent weeks, someone wanted to put their personal floss and cream back into their own purse, got their purse mixed up with mine and, without realizing the mixup, tossed the items into what would be the usual pockets in her own purse.
But who would it be and when could it have happened? hahahaha What a crazy riddle, and not one I am likely to ever solve, but it has made for an interesting brain teaser/twister of a morning around here. hahahaha
We are back in the -20C somethings for temperature. Watched several of the neighbours stumbling outside in their jammies and winter boots early this morning to plug in their vehicles so they could go to work later, and smiled a happy smile because we plugged ours in last night. There is a reason I check the weather every few hours each day like a woman obsessed! No slippin' and slidin' across the ice before 7am in my moccasins for this gal! Nope!
I went and asked my husband if they were his, 'cause you never know with husbands and their wives' "dumping grounds" purses, right? He had never seen them before either.
So, now I am wracking my brain to think where I could possibly have been in the past three weeks where I left my purse unattended long enough for someone to drop something into it...in the very inside pocket where I keep my own lip balm and packet of string floss. I can't come up with anywhere at all. When I go out my purse never leaves my side, or my lap, or is sitting beside me on a restaurant booth seat or church pew with my coat folded over the top of it, keeping the purse out of sight....maybe I abandon it long enough to go forward to the altar for the Eucharist on Sunday mornings. Somewhere, at some point in recent weeks, someone wanted to put their personal floss and cream back into their own purse, got their purse mixed up with mine and, without realizing the mixup, tossed the items into what would be the usual pockets in her own purse.
But who would it be and when could it have happened? hahahaha What a crazy riddle, and not one I am likely to ever solve, but it has made for an interesting brain teaser/twister of a morning around here. hahahaha
We are back in the -20C somethings for temperature. Watched several of the neighbours stumbling outside in their jammies and winter boots early this morning to plug in their vehicles so they could go to work later, and smiled a happy smile because we plugged ours in last night. There is a reason I check the weather every few hours each day like a woman obsessed! No slippin' and slidin' across the ice before 7am in my moccasins for this gal! Nope!
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Another Good Church Service
Church went well this morning! I discovered the practise pedal on the piano shifts the key position sufficiently to reduce the play in the keys and make the action tighter, just like my keyboard at home. So, the accompanying certainly went better this time than the last time I tried it. Thank you Lord! I was able to come away afterward with my fingers not feeling like they had taken a pounding just from trying to keep the keys moving.
Rev. Kaiser preached on Mark's gospel today: chapter 1, vss 21-28. In this passage a man is delivered from an unclean spirit; another miracle for Jesus. Rev. Kaiser said that he finds it difficult sometimes to preach on passages that contain the relating of miracles because there are so many different views on miracles in general: they happen, they don't happen, there is another explanation that we just don't know yet, they never did happen, they used to happen but they don't happen now (my own good dispensationalist background...until I experienced a miracle personally), they do happen but they don't happen often because people don't believe God will really do them...and so forth and so on....
However, Rev. Kaiser said he doesn't believe that the inclusion of the story was to prove a point about miracles because miracles are not the Kingdom of God. The story of the miracle, in his opinion, was so that Mark could bring attention to the power of Christ, the involvement of Christ, in showing his love to the man himself and to those looking on. He said that whether or not a person believes in actual miracles is not a contentious issue because it is peripheral to the salvation found in Jesus. He feels like I do that nothing makes Satan happier than to get Christians arguing about points of doctrine instead of rejoicing together about our salvation into God's family. It is up to us to continue to bring the message of hope and grace and salvation in Christ to those around us who don't know him yet. For some, discovering the availabilty of that depth of love from an invisible God is definitely a miracle in their lives.
I enjoyed his sermon because it is rare to hear doctrinal issues discussed in the Anglican circles I have found myself in lately. It was good to hear once again how the life and teachings and daily involvement of Jesus in our lives trumps whatever stance we each choose to have on peripheral issues of faith. It was encouraging. I am glad I had a committment there this morning that exposed me to some good old fashioned teaching like I used to hear many years ago in the first Anglican church I attended in Alberta, our priest being the wonderful Rev. Canon James Robinson.
As soon as I got home I insisted my husband get dressed and get out of the house with me for an early lunch. He has the rest of today and all day tomorrow to hibernate indoors if he wants to, but the temperature had risen from -21C to -12C during the couple of hours I was gone to church and I wanted him to get outside and enjoy it for a bit. We went to our neighbourhood Leopold's Tavern where my husband enjoyed a delicious bacon and egg breakfast and I indulged myself in my usual choice of their excellent taco salad. The music was bearable for volume, it just made me sad to hear the lyrics of some of the rap tunes because they were so negative about the world in general, but they reflect the fears of young people the way my own generation's songs did back in the 1970's when the world seemed just as out of control...and probably was, just with less media involvement to bring the disasters to the forefront. We sang with fewer graphic sexual references, generally speaking, but the fervor and the pain were the same. I feel for young people raised in both geographical and spiritual ghettos as so often life doesn't seem worth living and the world seems ripe for total destruction. Barry McGuire's old rendition of "Eve of Destruction" sprang to mind as I listened to the lyrics playing in the background music at Leopolds and I remember feeling extremely disenchanted and frightened too in my late teens and early 20's.
Now my husband is lost in a silly tv movie, having a bit more relaxation before turning his attention to some tax hassles...again with the tax hassles...when did sending in simple forms at the government's request, and properly filled out as well, become such a disaster needing constant re-filing because of Revenue Canada's very own mistakes? At this point we have reached "ludicrous speed", but it will all get sorted out eventually. Every other problem this year has been resolved just fine; it has taken a lot of time, forms and phone calls, but resolved eventually none the less.
Making plans for some fun this week: Globe Theatre and dinner with my husband's lady co-workers, lunch out with his cousin mid-week and now probably dinner out on the weekend with good friends. I am feeling more at peace with some social events on the immediate horizon. It is like my "reward" for staying home and staying focused on cleaning and tidying for the past couple of weeks.
Rev. Kaiser preached on Mark's gospel today: chapter 1, vss 21-28. In this passage a man is delivered from an unclean spirit; another miracle for Jesus. Rev. Kaiser said that he finds it difficult sometimes to preach on passages that contain the relating of miracles because there are so many different views on miracles in general: they happen, they don't happen, there is another explanation that we just don't know yet, they never did happen, they used to happen but they don't happen now (my own good dispensationalist background...until I experienced a miracle personally), they do happen but they don't happen often because people don't believe God will really do them...and so forth and so on....
However, Rev. Kaiser said he doesn't believe that the inclusion of the story was to prove a point about miracles because miracles are not the Kingdom of God. The story of the miracle, in his opinion, was so that Mark could bring attention to the power of Christ, the involvement of Christ, in showing his love to the man himself and to those looking on. He said that whether or not a person believes in actual miracles is not a contentious issue because it is peripheral to the salvation found in Jesus. He feels like I do that nothing makes Satan happier than to get Christians arguing about points of doctrine instead of rejoicing together about our salvation into God's family. It is up to us to continue to bring the message of hope and grace and salvation in Christ to those around us who don't know him yet. For some, discovering the availabilty of that depth of love from an invisible God is definitely a miracle in their lives.
I enjoyed his sermon because it is rare to hear doctrinal issues discussed in the Anglican circles I have found myself in lately. It was good to hear once again how the life and teachings and daily involvement of Jesus in our lives trumps whatever stance we each choose to have on peripheral issues of faith. It was encouraging. I am glad I had a committment there this morning that exposed me to some good old fashioned teaching like I used to hear many years ago in the first Anglican church I attended in Alberta, our priest being the wonderful Rev. Canon James Robinson.
As soon as I got home I insisted my husband get dressed and get out of the house with me for an early lunch. He has the rest of today and all day tomorrow to hibernate indoors if he wants to, but the temperature had risen from -21C to -12C during the couple of hours I was gone to church and I wanted him to get outside and enjoy it for a bit. We went to our neighbourhood Leopold's Tavern where my husband enjoyed a delicious bacon and egg breakfast and I indulged myself in my usual choice of their excellent taco salad. The music was bearable for volume, it just made me sad to hear the lyrics of some of the rap tunes because they were so negative about the world in general, but they reflect the fears of young people the way my own generation's songs did back in the 1970's when the world seemed just as out of control...and probably was, just with less media involvement to bring the disasters to the forefront. We sang with fewer graphic sexual references, generally speaking, but the fervor and the pain were the same. I feel for young people raised in both geographical and spiritual ghettos as so often life doesn't seem worth living and the world seems ripe for total destruction. Barry McGuire's old rendition of "Eve of Destruction" sprang to mind as I listened to the lyrics playing in the background music at Leopolds and I remember feeling extremely disenchanted and frightened too in my late teens and early 20's.
Now my husband is lost in a silly tv movie, having a bit more relaxation before turning his attention to some tax hassles...again with the tax hassles...when did sending in simple forms at the government's request, and properly filled out as well, become such a disaster needing constant re-filing because of Revenue Canada's very own mistakes? At this point we have reached "ludicrous speed", but it will all get sorted out eventually. Every other problem this year has been resolved just fine; it has taken a lot of time, forms and phone calls, but resolved eventually none the less.
Making plans for some fun this week: Globe Theatre and dinner with my husband's lady co-workers, lunch out with his cousin mid-week and now probably dinner out on the weekend with good friends. I am feeling more at peace with some social events on the immediate horizon. It is like my "reward" for staying home and staying focused on cleaning and tidying for the past couple of weeks.
It Seems To Happen Every Time I Play Hymns At Church
Just as we were turning off the lights and settling in for a good night’s sleep, my husband’s work cell phone rang. Assuming it was an emergency he grabbed it and answered it. It was a Christian sister in Nigeria calling for information about the upcoming international Anglican deacons’ conference. It took awhile for my husband to convince her that it has nothing to do with him and that she would have to wait until Tuesday, when the Synod office opens again, to talk to the lady in charge of the event. We were rather awake by the time he was done talking, but we both managed to get to sleep quickly.
We had a great sleep until 4:30am when our befuddled sister called again. Apparently he had not convinced her during the first call that she couldn't get her needed information until Tuesday, so he went through the whole conversation a second time. Sigh.....
Since the new office phone system now automatically transfers his office calls to his cell, he has set up a “priority calls only” list of accepted phone numbers. Our Nigerian friend’s number is not on that list and yet.....aaaaaaargh!!
Our alarm clock is not working properly, so we have the cell phone on to use its excellent alarm so I won’t be late for church....church which begins in 4 hours....not quite enough time for me to relax enough to fall asleep again. Blah....
I should have guessed something would disrupt my sleep as soon as I agreed to this gig. It happens every time. My fingers don’t ache or swell if I have had enough rest, but I am sitting here watching them “grow”. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
My husband intended to get the regular clock alarm fixed last night, but instead ended up spending his evening repairing my computer after it glitched and wiped out my entire Firefox profile.
Typing is helping my OCD’s offended sense of justice to calm down. I am feeling sleepy 💤 so....😴
We had a great sleep until 4:30am when our befuddled sister called again. Apparently he had not convinced her during the first call that she couldn't get her needed information until Tuesday, so he went through the whole conversation a second time. Sigh.....
Since the new office phone system now automatically transfers his office calls to his cell, he has set up a “priority calls only” list of accepted phone numbers. Our Nigerian friend’s number is not on that list and yet.....aaaaaaargh!!
Our alarm clock is not working properly, so we have the cell phone on to use its excellent alarm so I won’t be late for church....church which begins in 4 hours....not quite enough time for me to relax enough to fall asleep again. Blah....
I should have guessed something would disrupt my sleep as soon as I agreed to this gig. It happens every time. My fingers don’t ache or swell if I have had enough rest, but I am sitting here watching them “grow”. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
My husband intended to get the regular clock alarm fixed last night, but instead ended up spending his evening repairing my computer after it glitched and wiped out my entire Firefox profile.
Typing is helping my OCD’s offended sense of justice to calm down. I am feeling sleepy 💤 so....😴
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Cloudy With More Than A Mere Chance of Meatballs!
Cloudy: the skies outside from 3pm until dark.
Meatballs: what we had for dinner tonight
My husband came home from work bearing the leftovers from the lunch provided for today's committee meeting. Yum! There was a huge salad, a bowl of purple grapes, a bowl of white rice and another of meatballs in tomato sauce. WOW! Once again on a night when I was feeling particularly uncreative in the kitchen, my husband arrived home with dinner. Bless him! And bless the others from the meeting who sent all that food home with him! We have enough in the refrigerator for another meal tomorrow, plus two days' worth of food now in the freezer for him to have a hot lunch at work two days this coming week. Blessings galore around here these days and for that I am relieved and grateful.
In the morning I have to play the hymns for church. I am sitting here looking at my swollen fingers and praying that they will not fail me there at the piano tomorrow. Practising has been rather so-so in its results all week, but I am conscious of not feeling stressed about it like I was the last time I accompanied at church. Travelling with my husband to other churches on Sundays has freed me from the anxiety. Some of the churches have fabulous organists and other musicians, the quality of which I never have achieved and never will now, others have to take who they have for musicians and they don't have many that can actually play well. I know I should be able to do at least as well as them, even though their hearts are far more pure and willing to help out than my own. So, there I am, somewhere right in the low-middle of the talent pool....it is a happy place to be at this stage of life. Expectations are low and that makes me happy and relaxed. Anything I manage to do that isn't a total screwup will be acceptable, so I am inspired to do at least a little better than that. Here's to a good sleep and less swelling in the morning!
Meatballs: what we had for dinner tonight
My husband came home from work bearing the leftovers from the lunch provided for today's committee meeting. Yum! There was a huge salad, a bowl of purple grapes, a bowl of white rice and another of meatballs in tomato sauce. WOW! Once again on a night when I was feeling particularly uncreative in the kitchen, my husband arrived home with dinner. Bless him! And bless the others from the meeting who sent all that food home with him! We have enough in the refrigerator for another meal tomorrow, plus two days' worth of food now in the freezer for him to have a hot lunch at work two days this coming week. Blessings galore around here these days and for that I am relieved and grateful.
In the morning I have to play the hymns for church. I am sitting here looking at my swollen fingers and praying that they will not fail me there at the piano tomorrow. Practising has been rather so-so in its results all week, but I am conscious of not feeling stressed about it like I was the last time I accompanied at church. Travelling with my husband to other churches on Sundays has freed me from the anxiety. Some of the churches have fabulous organists and other musicians, the quality of which I never have achieved and never will now, others have to take who they have for musicians and they don't have many that can actually play well. I know I should be able to do at least as well as them, even though their hearts are far more pure and willing to help out than my own. So, there I am, somewhere right in the low-middle of the talent pool....it is a happy place to be at this stage of life. Expectations are low and that makes me happy and relaxed. Anything I manage to do that isn't a total screwup will be acceptable, so I am inspired to do at least a little better than that. Here's to a good sleep and less swelling in the morning!
What I WON'T Have To Do Next Move!!
I don't know when or even IF we will be moving from this suite in the future, but I am rather relieved, after this spate of intense cleaning, by what will NOT have to be done when we leave here: (YAY!!)
--the venetian blinds will not have to be cleaned. Our landlords are no longer providing window coverings for the suites and since our last two leases did not stipulate window coverings, we have been told to just throw these ones in the garbage when we next move. The two I purchased originally to replace a couple of the worst old ones from the last tenant can either come with us or go to a thrift store. YAY!!
--the carpets will not need to be professionally cleaned. When we leave here all the rotting, damaged, marked flooring in this suite will be replaced. All I will have to do is vacuum up whatever lint is left after our "stuff" is in the moving van, before we drive away. YAY!!
--the walls will not have to be washed. Every suite here is repainted between tenants. All we have to do is fill the picture hook holes with some matching colour putty stick and be on our way. YAY!!
--the kitchen appliances will not have to be moved by me to be cleaned behind and under. When we leave, these oldies are going to be replaced. Once they are out in the huge garbage bin the kitchen flooring will be ripped up for new lino to go down and then the new appliances will be installed. YAY!!
--the basement rafters will not have to be cleaned. They were not done when we moved in here and there is apparently no provision for doing any real sort of cleaning on them between tenants. All we will have to do down there is vacuum up whatever dust or lint is on the floor. YAY!!
--the basement washer and dryer will not have to be cleaned. They also will be replaced for the next tenant. They are on their last legs though so it is possible we will still be here when they crater, we will get the new machines and then of course I will have to clean them before we go, but the old ones may hang on for another year or so. YAY!!
I have been thinking about how stressful and exhausting our move into this suite was and dreading the very idea of another move, but seeing how much energy I was able to muster up for a big cleaning project has encouraged me that IF a move is on the way in a year or two, I will be able to handle it after all. YAY!!
--the venetian blinds will not have to be cleaned. Our landlords are no longer providing window coverings for the suites and since our last two leases did not stipulate window coverings, we have been told to just throw these ones in the garbage when we next move. The two I purchased originally to replace a couple of the worst old ones from the last tenant can either come with us or go to a thrift store. YAY!!
--the carpets will not need to be professionally cleaned. When we leave here all the rotting, damaged, marked flooring in this suite will be replaced. All I will have to do is vacuum up whatever lint is left after our "stuff" is in the moving van, before we drive away. YAY!!
--the walls will not have to be washed. Every suite here is repainted between tenants. All we have to do is fill the picture hook holes with some matching colour putty stick and be on our way. YAY!!
--the kitchen appliances will not have to be moved by me to be cleaned behind and under. When we leave, these oldies are going to be replaced. Once they are out in the huge garbage bin the kitchen flooring will be ripped up for new lino to go down and then the new appliances will be installed. YAY!!
--the basement rafters will not have to be cleaned. They were not done when we moved in here and there is apparently no provision for doing any real sort of cleaning on them between tenants. All we will have to do down there is vacuum up whatever dust or lint is on the floor. YAY!!
--the basement washer and dryer will not have to be cleaned. They also will be replaced for the next tenant. They are on their last legs though so it is possible we will still be here when they crater, we will get the new machines and then of course I will have to clean them before we go, but the old ones may hang on for another year or so. YAY!!
I have been thinking about how stressful and exhausting our move into this suite was and dreading the very idea of another move, but seeing how much energy I was able to muster up for a big cleaning project has encouraged me that IF a move is on the way in a year or two, I will be able to handle it after all. YAY!!
All Over But The Bedding!!
Today has turned out to be the perfect day to complete my cleaning project! YIPPEE!! I attacked my husband's "cave" this morning and have all the dusting, washing of walls, vacuuming, etc. etc. etc. finished!! It isn't even 11am yet, but I find I can accomplish a lot when I get started on a project before 7:30am. (Happily my husband went to be super early last night and slept well, so he was out the door to go to the office well before 7:30am...probably the earliest he has left for a Saturday of work here in town since he started!)
Now all I have to do is put the bed and bedding from that room back where it all belongs. That will take awhile because I am washing EVERY last piece of linen that has been in there since we moved in. Some of it my husband has used a little bit and then put back in the closet, some of it has just been sitting there in wadded up heaps on the closet shelf and I don't know what he is using for what or if he is using all of it, so it is ALL getting a good freshening up in the laundry!! I will spend the rest of the day washing and drying blankets and comforters, pillowcases and sheets. This is a great opportunity to reorganize that particular storage space for him. He detests having to organize things like closets full of bedding, but I enjoy it, so it all works out today.
My husband surprised me this morning. When he woke up at 5:30am, he finished tidying up and filing papers and office supplies that were all over his desktop, got the computers ready for me to clean and basically simplified the whole task for me. I saw the mess he still had going on in that room last night, but didn't want to ask him to clean and sort it all for me before I started cleaning. He was so very tired and had to do some work at his desk to be ready for today's meetings. Bless his heart for the wonderful surprise. I have the whole space dunged out and ready for closet reorganizing in less than three and a half hours. YAY!! My afternoon is going to be relaxed now. In between loads of laundry I can practise the hymns for church tomorrow without feeling rushed.
It is cold today as the temperatures begin another mid-winter plunge and we had a skiff of snow overnight I should go and sweep off the back porch. The sun is coming out though and that is such a cheery blessing after a morning of hard work.
I am grateful to God for the strength and motivation to complete this complete tearing apart of our suite and giving every inch of it a good cleaning. Wow, I am SO grateful! My arm isn't even sore like it usually is after I get one of my osteo injections. My hip is now alllowing me to sprawl on the floor to vacuum and dust behind the file cabinets I am not strong enough to pull completely away from the walls. Again....grateful!
But....long may it be before I have to do this again! hahaha I think I am going to be tired for a couple of days!
Now all I have to do is put the bed and bedding from that room back where it all belongs. That will take awhile because I am washing EVERY last piece of linen that has been in there since we moved in. Some of it my husband has used a little bit and then put back in the closet, some of it has just been sitting there in wadded up heaps on the closet shelf and I don't know what he is using for what or if he is using all of it, so it is ALL getting a good freshening up in the laundry!! I will spend the rest of the day washing and drying blankets and comforters, pillowcases and sheets. This is a great opportunity to reorganize that particular storage space for him. He detests having to organize things like closets full of bedding, but I enjoy it, so it all works out today.
My husband surprised me this morning. When he woke up at 5:30am, he finished tidying up and filing papers and office supplies that were all over his desktop, got the computers ready for me to clean and basically simplified the whole task for me. I saw the mess he still had going on in that room last night, but didn't want to ask him to clean and sort it all for me before I started cleaning. He was so very tired and had to do some work at his desk to be ready for today's meetings. Bless his heart for the wonderful surprise. I have the whole space dunged out and ready for closet reorganizing in less than three and a half hours. YAY!! My afternoon is going to be relaxed now. In between loads of laundry I can practise the hymns for church tomorrow without feeling rushed.
It is cold today as the temperatures begin another mid-winter plunge and we had a skiff of snow overnight I should go and sweep off the back porch. The sun is coming out though and that is such a cheery blessing after a morning of hard work.
I am grateful to God for the strength and motivation to complete this complete tearing apart of our suite and giving every inch of it a good cleaning. Wow, I am SO grateful! My arm isn't even sore like it usually is after I get one of my osteo injections. My hip is now alllowing me to sprawl on the floor to vacuum and dust behind the file cabinets I am not strong enough to pull completely away from the walls. Again....grateful!
But....long may it be before I have to do this again! hahaha I think I am going to be tired for a couple of days!
Friday, January 26, 2018
Deeply Ashamed of Some of My Fellow Reginans!
I received a phone call from the medical clinic an hour before my scheduled appointment this afternoon, with the message that my doctor had been called away on a family emergency, but that her doctor husband could see me a bit later this afternoon as my injection is time sensitive. I was sorry my own doctor was in distress, but delighted that someone had the wherewithal to check to see what some of the patients were coming to see her about that day and to make recommendations for rescheduling etc.
Well....what an afternoon at that clinic. It felt like all hell had broken loose over there this afternoon. The waiting room was no more jammed, the doctors no farther behind, than any other day, but today no one had any patience to wait, to answer the office managers' questions, to even attempt to restrain their children from driving everyone completely insane....it was absolute bedlam. The staff couldn't keep ahead of the neighbourhood addicts hanging about indoors and trying to use the bathroom that is for the patients, in order to shoot up drugs. It was far crazier than I have seen it in quite some time.
There were some very embarrassing people there today, treating the doctors and the office staff like their own personal servants, making racist remarks at the office staff for who English is not their first language, letting their kids run around into examination rooms other than the ones their own family members were sent to, one family refusing to leave one of the rooms until their littlest gal had a bowel movement right there in the room....in the GARBAGE CAN, then taking forever to clean her up despite the frantic doctor (MY doctor this afternoon) trying to get them out and get the room tidied up and disinfected as quickly as possible for the next patient. Why this little girl could not have been picked up by mom or grandma and rushed to the patient use washroom, why her older brother could not have been restrained from running around into place he didn't belong and screaming the entire time, I have no idea and neither did the doctor. As he raced down the hall to connect with another waiting patient, I heard him mumble, "I am so sick and tired of this!!". As he left the next examination room, a woman in the room beside me stuck her head out into the hallway and screeched at him, "Doctor, I HAD a 2pm appointment for test results and it is now 10 minutes to 3! Why haven't you seen me yet???" The doctor's gentile response as he raced past her was, "I only have 2 hands madam, not 20 and I still have other patients who have had to wait longer than you have had to wait!!" As the poopy gal and her family FINALLY departed their exam room, screaming older brother finally in tow, she called out to him that they were done and leaving and the harried doctor said, "FINALLY!!" He sounded close to tears at this point. Right about then another older local person started attacking one of the office ladies about her English...make this overt racist number two just in the 45 minutes I had been in the clinic. She was so loud we could hear every word in the back of the building, where the exam rooms are. I was so ashamed to be "from" here in that moment. I wanted to cry.
Despite all the frustrating, demanding patients, racist comments, the male doctors having to take time out to clear the men's room of addicts and alcoholics, people taking time that wasn't needed by holding the doctor up unnecessarily, mostly to complain that they had not been the centre of the clinic's universe this afternoon, I still saw the doctor less than an hour past my scheduled appointment time. In one of our last parishes it wasn't unusual to wait more than 4 hours past a scheduled time....going home for lunch after waiting 2 hours for the appointment to happen and then returning to the clinic and waiting at least another 2 hours afterward. It wasn't fun but the locals and myself sucked it up and made the best of it. It was reality there at that time and waiting here in Regina is also a reality in busy walk in clinics in the downtown area. That is life people....get used to it!! No one in there exists simply to cater to you and your particular needs. We are all in this underfunded provincial health care system together. Accept that reality.
I felt so sorry for the doctor. He finally got to my room, came in, shut the door and exploded verbally about what had been going on with poopy girl, her wandering, howling brother and her adult family members who couldn't have cared less who else exists in the world and how their actions were effecting those people. I told him my embarrassment that Canadians would treat people like himself, bringing their medical skills into Canada from elsewhere, like indentured servants. He told me that is exactly how he has been feeling this whole week, on top of having to deal with his wife returning to their home country very unexpectedly this morning to try to get there in time to say goodbye to her dying father. I told him I would pray for them and he responded with tears and "God bless you!!" That poor man. I can't imagine what his wife is going through. She will still be in the air trying to get back home as I write this. I pray she is not too late to see her father before he dies.
I have been fortunate enough to only very rarely hear people expressing racist comments toward the immigrants that have come to Canada; not that I don't know it isn't going on...everywhere....often. It is just that I have missed hearing very much of that sort of thing personally. Today was quite a shock to hear people old enough to know better talking to the office managers and even the doctors as if they were foreign scum, there simply to serve each patient's whim. I was impressed with the way the office gals handled the insults, refusing to respond with anything but kindness while I am sure they wanted to beat those ignorant boor Canadians senseless. They maintained their professional stance and conversation at all times.
"O Lord, please prevent me from ever feeling the anger and upset toward those for who English is not a first language. Help me to never feel entitled to a doctor's time and attention. Help me to never misuse space that is intended to be used by many people, not just me. Help me to know how to react more intentionally when necessary if I hear or see others mistreating immigrants and misusing public space. I felt quite helpless today to be of any use, but I was praying so I know you were there keeping an eye on things."
Today made me wonder if I have been guilty of treating people so badly, with such a strong belief in my own right to be arrogant and act superior to others. What can I learn from today that will make me more sensitive to the feelings of other people?
What an afternoon....I pray the doctors from that clinic are all at home this evening with their feet up, having a favourite drink, a comforting dinner and getting themselves ready for a deep, calming night's sleep.
Well....what an afternoon at that clinic. It felt like all hell had broken loose over there this afternoon. The waiting room was no more jammed, the doctors no farther behind, than any other day, but today no one had any patience to wait, to answer the office managers' questions, to even attempt to restrain their children from driving everyone completely insane....it was absolute bedlam. The staff couldn't keep ahead of the neighbourhood addicts hanging about indoors and trying to use the bathroom that is for the patients, in order to shoot up drugs. It was far crazier than I have seen it in quite some time.
There were some very embarrassing people there today, treating the doctors and the office staff like their own personal servants, making racist remarks at the office staff for who English is not their first language, letting their kids run around into examination rooms other than the ones their own family members were sent to, one family refusing to leave one of the rooms until their littlest gal had a bowel movement right there in the room....in the GARBAGE CAN, then taking forever to clean her up despite the frantic doctor (MY doctor this afternoon) trying to get them out and get the room tidied up and disinfected as quickly as possible for the next patient. Why this little girl could not have been picked up by mom or grandma and rushed to the patient use washroom, why her older brother could not have been restrained from running around into place he didn't belong and screaming the entire time, I have no idea and neither did the doctor. As he raced down the hall to connect with another waiting patient, I heard him mumble, "I am so sick and tired of this!!". As he left the next examination room, a woman in the room beside me stuck her head out into the hallway and screeched at him, "Doctor, I HAD a 2pm appointment for test results and it is now 10 minutes to 3! Why haven't you seen me yet???" The doctor's gentile response as he raced past her was, "I only have 2 hands madam, not 20 and I still have other patients who have had to wait longer than you have had to wait!!" As the poopy gal and her family FINALLY departed their exam room, screaming older brother finally in tow, she called out to him that they were done and leaving and the harried doctor said, "FINALLY!!" He sounded close to tears at this point. Right about then another older local person started attacking one of the office ladies about her English...make this overt racist number two just in the 45 minutes I had been in the clinic. She was so loud we could hear every word in the back of the building, where the exam rooms are. I was so ashamed to be "from" here in that moment. I wanted to cry.
Despite all the frustrating, demanding patients, racist comments, the male doctors having to take time out to clear the men's room of addicts and alcoholics, people taking time that wasn't needed by holding the doctor up unnecessarily, mostly to complain that they had not been the centre of the clinic's universe this afternoon, I still saw the doctor less than an hour past my scheduled appointment time. In one of our last parishes it wasn't unusual to wait more than 4 hours past a scheduled time....going home for lunch after waiting 2 hours for the appointment to happen and then returning to the clinic and waiting at least another 2 hours afterward. It wasn't fun but the locals and myself sucked it up and made the best of it. It was reality there at that time and waiting here in Regina is also a reality in busy walk in clinics in the downtown area. That is life people....get used to it!! No one in there exists simply to cater to you and your particular needs. We are all in this underfunded provincial health care system together. Accept that reality.
I felt so sorry for the doctor. He finally got to my room, came in, shut the door and exploded verbally about what had been going on with poopy girl, her wandering, howling brother and her adult family members who couldn't have cared less who else exists in the world and how their actions were effecting those people. I told him my embarrassment that Canadians would treat people like himself, bringing their medical skills into Canada from elsewhere, like indentured servants. He told me that is exactly how he has been feeling this whole week, on top of having to deal with his wife returning to their home country very unexpectedly this morning to try to get there in time to say goodbye to her dying father. I told him I would pray for them and he responded with tears and "God bless you!!" That poor man. I can't imagine what his wife is going through. She will still be in the air trying to get back home as I write this. I pray she is not too late to see her father before he dies.
I have been fortunate enough to only very rarely hear people expressing racist comments toward the immigrants that have come to Canada; not that I don't know it isn't going on...everywhere....often. It is just that I have missed hearing very much of that sort of thing personally. Today was quite a shock to hear people old enough to know better talking to the office managers and even the doctors as if they were foreign scum, there simply to serve each patient's whim. I was impressed with the way the office gals handled the insults, refusing to respond with anything but kindness while I am sure they wanted to beat those ignorant boor Canadians senseless. They maintained their professional stance and conversation at all times.
"O Lord, please prevent me from ever feeling the anger and upset toward those for who English is not a first language. Help me to never feel entitled to a doctor's time and attention. Help me to never misuse space that is intended to be used by many people, not just me. Help me to know how to react more intentionally when necessary if I hear or see others mistreating immigrants and misusing public space. I felt quite helpless today to be of any use, but I was praying so I know you were there keeping an eye on things."
Today made me wonder if I have been guilty of treating people so badly, with such a strong belief in my own right to be arrogant and act superior to others. What can I learn from today that will make me more sensitive to the feelings of other people?
What an afternoon....I pray the doctors from that clinic are all at home this evening with their feet up, having a favourite drink, a comforting dinner and getting themselves ready for a deep, calming night's sleep.
Oooh, Yes, That Was Wonderfully Refreshing!!!
The snow drifts this morning brought out my usually well hidden inner "bad girl". teehee I know a wonderful road just outside the city limits where few people drive early in the morning. On the way to go grocery shopping I took a wee side trip to that marvellously wide and untravelled road for some drift bustin'! For only a few minutes of fun I have been left with an entire day's worth of joy!! Yeeeee.....haaaaaaaw!!!
Funny how a mundane task like grocery shopping is perked up by doing something more silly and exciting first and feeling like I really got away with it. Yeah....I need to stop acting my age more often and just enjoy myself. 😇
This afternoon I have to go to the doctor for another injection of the drug that is shooting up my cholesterol, in hopes that it is also increasing my bone density. To be honest, my feeling about its success is along the lines of "Good luck with that." Sigh.... Please Lord, let me be wrong and let this crazy medication actually be helping my bones so that I will feel less miserable about having to take cholesterol lowering meds that can also have terrible side effects. Guess I will know what is going on by July after my next bone densitometry. Here's hoping....
Funny how a mundane task like grocery shopping is perked up by doing something more silly and exciting first and feeling like I really got away with it. Yeah....I need to stop acting my age more often and just enjoy myself. 😇
This afternoon I have to go to the doctor for another injection of the drug that is shooting up my cholesterol, in hopes that it is also increasing my bone density. To be honest, my feeling about its success is along the lines of "Good luck with that." Sigh.... Please Lord, let me be wrong and let this crazy medication actually be helping my bones so that I will feel less miserable about having to take cholesterol lowering meds that can also have terrible side effects. Guess I will know what is going on by July after my next bone densitometry. Here's hoping....
Low Drifting Snow
It is 6am. I am sitting up in bed, leaning against my cushy tv pillow and feeling well rested and happy after a good sleep. The howling wind outside pushed its way into whatever I was dreaming about a few minutes ago and woke me up, so I went to the window and looked out to see what all the fuss is about.
The wind is whipping up a bit of fresh snowfall into small drifts across the lawns, sidewalks and street. It is quite beautiful to see. Small peaks of snow are forming on top of the remaining ice on the path to our car. Perhaps I will be able to do some shovelling later today...any excuse to get outside, right?
According to the Accuweather report we are in for a couple of more hours of “low drifting snow” before the temperature begins a slow slide back into the minus twenty-somethings for the next two weeks. February can bring some wickedly cold weather, so I am happy to have it from now until midway through that dreary month and get it over with!
Banking again this morning will give me a chance to do a little drift busting with the car. There is sufficient snow that the drifts won’t all be broken down on the residential side streets along my route. Yippee! Snow drifts can make for some good fun!
When I was cleaning my husband’s treasure trove of books, I found ¥10,000 tucked away in one of his theology texts that he must have been using as a bookmark. That is only about ten Canadian dollars, but we might as well have it in our bank account instead of leaving it uselessly rotting away between the pages of a book neither of us has read for more than ten years! Putting ten dollars into the bank is a perfect excuse to go out into the snowdrifts, right? Of course right! Teehee.....
The wind is whipping up a bit of fresh snowfall into small drifts across the lawns, sidewalks and street. It is quite beautiful to see. Small peaks of snow are forming on top of the remaining ice on the path to our car. Perhaps I will be able to do some shovelling later today...any excuse to get outside, right?
According to the Accuweather report we are in for a couple of more hours of “low drifting snow” before the temperature begins a slow slide back into the minus twenty-somethings for the next two weeks. February can bring some wickedly cold weather, so I am happy to have it from now until midway through that dreary month and get it over with!
Banking again this morning will give me a chance to do a little drift busting with the car. There is sufficient snow that the drifts won’t all be broken down on the residential side streets along my route. Yippee! Snow drifts can make for some good fun!
When I was cleaning my husband’s treasure trove of books, I found ¥10,000 tucked away in one of his theology texts that he must have been using as a bookmark. That is only about ten Canadian dollars, but we might as well have it in our bank account instead of leaving it uselessly rotting away between the pages of a book neither of us has read for more than ten years! Putting ten dollars into the bank is a perfect excuse to go out into the snowdrifts, right? Of course right! Teehee.....
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Second Breakfast.....Oops, I Mean Christmas
When I returned from my morning errands today, I once again found a parcel tucked between the back doors of my suite. It turned out to be the beautiful and quirky hand painted linen scarf I commissioned recently from my son! AND he sent me two of them! What a lovely surprise. He used two different colour palettes so the variety of shades and designs is great to have. The coarseness of the raw linen means I can also use the scarves for table runners, wall hangings, art pieces and what have you. They are wild, whacky, gorgeous and very useful. Thank you son!
Happiness.....
Happiness.....
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Every Day is Productive It Seems In One Way or Another!
"Instead of telling God how big your problems are, tell your problems how big your God is!" (something I read sometime, somewhere.....)
It is easy to feel swamped as problems come along in wave after wave, but the simplistic statement above has helped me through some tough times and right now I know too many people who would have use of it in their own lives. One friend who, over the past two years, has lost about eight relatives to various forms of cancers and other diseases, now has a parent with dementia issues. Another friend began testing this week for what appears to be two completely unrelated types of cancer attacking his body. I am thankful that both these people know Jesus very well, but they have serious trials to face over the coming months. True faith in our great big God is going to be what helps my friends over the hurdles and through the deep ditches. God doesn't often relieve us of our trials, but he is quick to be there holding our hands and keeping us from total despair in the midst of them.
It was nice to have a break away from the house for several hours today. O, it wasn't to do anything spectacular, just running some errands, but it felt good to be outside. I accomplished a lot in a couple of hours and being productive makes me happy. The aches and pains I had last night from all the cleaning gave way to different aches and pains today! hahahaha My thigh muscles were just fine when I woke up this morning so only needed a good night of rest to recover. I have to remember to track aches and pains once I am finished cleaning in case it is actually the Lipitor causing the problems.
When my errands were completed I just happened to find my car parked beside my favourite Afghan restaurant, AND it just happened to be lunch time, so.........YUMMY!! I deserve a treat for all the work I have been doing....at least I thought I deserved a treat so.....insert contented sigh here! There were two men in the restaurant who have served time with the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan and I unabashedly eavesdropped on their conversation about their time there. It sounded terrifying to me. I found it interesting that they chose the Afghan restaurant to eat at and it sounds like they eat there a lot. One of the fellows had just returned from a vacation to Iceland and that was fascinating to hear about as well. Fantastically expensive is how he described it, more tourists every day than there are local residents, but an amazing place to visit. The guys knew I was listening to them, but didn't care at all. I enjoyed the whole experience of marvellous food and armchair travel.
A friend called this afternoon for some God-talk. I do have a handful of friends who can spend that long talking about the Lord with me and it was so wonderful I found it difficult to say goodbye at the end of our conversation. My friend is totally real in her spirituality, she is not the sort of person who feels that if God is not brought into every conversation that she has not done her "spiritual job for Jesus". There is nothing forced or fake when we talk about God and church and the successes and failures in our attempts to be disciples. We don't have to use the accepted vocabulary of church chat. We just talk about God and what is going on in our lives in relationship to him. Vancouver Island is blessed to have her!
Tonight for dinner I chopped some more fresh veggies into the remains of the couscous, as well as resurrecting a chicken breast I found hiding on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator that I cooked up a couple of days ago. A small loaf of onion cheese bread finished off our meal. Thank you Lord for leftovers, but tomorrow I have to do some serious cooking!
Tomorrow morning I get to go out again to do our end of the month banking. I enjoy that day each month because it makes me feel like we have actual finances to deal with! hahaha
The next afternoon I have to go to the doctor for my Prolia injection...dagnab that stuff, it had BETTER be working to help my bone density since it is putting my cholesterol up to such a dangerous level. Six months to go before I find out if it is helping me or not. I am afraid to believe it is working because I don't want to be disappointed once again. If it isn't working there is nothing left to try that I am not violently allergic to. BUT this is where trust in the Lord comes in....that fella who is bigger than the problem!
I came home from my errands and delicious lunch to discover the post office had delivered a box to my back door. Inside was an explosion of gifts from a former parishioner who is very handy with a sewing machine and crochet hooks. It was like Christmas all over again when I opened that box. There were funky patterned pillow cases in our favourite colours, soft hand towels, dishcloths, pot holders, hot pads and drink coasters. The variety of colours and patterns was astounding!! A long newsy letter accompanied the very professional looking hand sewn gifts. WOW! What an unexpected and fun and useful treat!!! Such a gift our friend has for crafting!
Off to do some reading before bed. One thing I did today was drive to another neighbourhood that has three community library boxes. I dropped off some of my current books and picked up a few new ones to read. Not sure which one to start on first...plus I still have about ten books left from the Seniors' University book sale last summer. Wow, I stocked up on books at that time...can't believe how many I purchased!
Have a good sleep and a good day tomorrow everyone!
It is easy to feel swamped as problems come along in wave after wave, but the simplistic statement above has helped me through some tough times and right now I know too many people who would have use of it in their own lives. One friend who, over the past two years, has lost about eight relatives to various forms of cancers and other diseases, now has a parent with dementia issues. Another friend began testing this week for what appears to be two completely unrelated types of cancer attacking his body. I am thankful that both these people know Jesus very well, but they have serious trials to face over the coming months. True faith in our great big God is going to be what helps my friends over the hurdles and through the deep ditches. God doesn't often relieve us of our trials, but he is quick to be there holding our hands and keeping us from total despair in the midst of them.
It was nice to have a break away from the house for several hours today. O, it wasn't to do anything spectacular, just running some errands, but it felt good to be outside. I accomplished a lot in a couple of hours and being productive makes me happy. The aches and pains I had last night from all the cleaning gave way to different aches and pains today! hahahaha My thigh muscles were just fine when I woke up this morning so only needed a good night of rest to recover. I have to remember to track aches and pains once I am finished cleaning in case it is actually the Lipitor causing the problems.
When my errands were completed I just happened to find my car parked beside my favourite Afghan restaurant, AND it just happened to be lunch time, so.........YUMMY!! I deserve a treat for all the work I have been doing....at least I thought I deserved a treat so.....insert contented sigh here! There were two men in the restaurant who have served time with the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan and I unabashedly eavesdropped on their conversation about their time there. It sounded terrifying to me. I found it interesting that they chose the Afghan restaurant to eat at and it sounds like they eat there a lot. One of the fellows had just returned from a vacation to Iceland and that was fascinating to hear about as well. Fantastically expensive is how he described it, more tourists every day than there are local residents, but an amazing place to visit. The guys knew I was listening to them, but didn't care at all. I enjoyed the whole experience of marvellous food and armchair travel.
A friend called this afternoon for some God-talk. I do have a handful of friends who can spend that long talking about the Lord with me and it was so wonderful I found it difficult to say goodbye at the end of our conversation. My friend is totally real in her spirituality, she is not the sort of person who feels that if God is not brought into every conversation that she has not done her "spiritual job for Jesus". There is nothing forced or fake when we talk about God and church and the successes and failures in our attempts to be disciples. We don't have to use the accepted vocabulary of church chat. We just talk about God and what is going on in our lives in relationship to him. Vancouver Island is blessed to have her!
Tonight for dinner I chopped some more fresh veggies into the remains of the couscous, as well as resurrecting a chicken breast I found hiding on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator that I cooked up a couple of days ago. A small loaf of onion cheese bread finished off our meal. Thank you Lord for leftovers, but tomorrow I have to do some serious cooking!
Tomorrow morning I get to go out again to do our end of the month banking. I enjoy that day each month because it makes me feel like we have actual finances to deal with! hahaha
The next afternoon I have to go to the doctor for my Prolia injection...dagnab that stuff, it had BETTER be working to help my bone density since it is putting my cholesterol up to such a dangerous level. Six months to go before I find out if it is helping me or not. I am afraid to believe it is working because I don't want to be disappointed once again. If it isn't working there is nothing left to try that I am not violently allergic to. BUT this is where trust in the Lord comes in....that fella who is bigger than the problem!
I came home from my errands and delicious lunch to discover the post office had delivered a box to my back door. Inside was an explosion of gifts from a former parishioner who is very handy with a sewing machine and crochet hooks. It was like Christmas all over again when I opened that box. There were funky patterned pillow cases in our favourite colours, soft hand towels, dishcloths, pot holders, hot pads and drink coasters. The variety of colours and patterns was astounding!! A long newsy letter accompanied the very professional looking hand sewn gifts. WOW! What an unexpected and fun and useful treat!!! Such a gift our friend has for crafting!
Off to do some reading before bed. One thing I did today was drive to another neighbourhood that has three community library boxes. I dropped off some of my current books and picked up a few new ones to read. Not sure which one to start on first...plus I still have about ten books left from the Seniors' University book sale last summer. Wow, I stocked up on books at that time...can't believe how many I purchased!
Have a good sleep and a good day tomorrow everyone!
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Oooh, My Aching Muscles!
I am tired and sore tonight. I pushed through the entire cleaning project in my office and just before dinner tonight the muscles around the hardware in my hip packed it in. Wow....they haven't felt that weak and sore since I started walking post-surgery without assistance. Hard to believe they felt this way almost every day for a whole year, even without the strain I have put on them now with the cleaning project. So glad this is not the norm any more.
After dinner and a bit of a rest, I returned to my office and finished dunging out and cleaning the last closet. Aaaaahhhhh, DONE!! Now I will spend two or three days doing other errands and more fun "stuff" before cleaning my husband's office...the last room to be done. YAY! If anyone told me a few years ago that I would ever have the energy to spend 5 to 8 hours a day, every day for more than a week, cleaning house, I would never have believed it. Praising God for this change in my life. YES!!
When my husband returned from work this evening I asked him if we could go out for dinner, but I really didn't want to go out. I just didn't want to have to cook. My husband loves to cook and since he is starting to recover from his stresses of the past year, he volunteered to cook up some fish and "something else". What a relief. I was in too much pain to feel any guilt for allowing him to take on cooking dinner after his own very busy day.
He coated some tilapia with panko, fried it in olive oil and it tasted fabulous. I made a salad and he added in a pot of Israeli couscous mixed with sauteed onions and baby peas. It was a simple, delicious, wonderful meal and I am so grateful to him. Not making dinner was what gave me the energy to complete the cleaning of my room and he felt fantastic that he could help me out with something where he could use his creativity.
While I was cleaning, four of my closest out of town friends picked today to give me a phone call. I think that is why I accomplished so much. I have mastered the art of dusting, sorting, packing, dishwashing etc., while having the phone tucked under my chin and lodged against one shoulder. The more we talked, the more I got done. I am so grateful they were all in the mood for long conversations.
A good day....off to shower and get the dust out of my hair. One more room....one more room......
After dinner and a bit of a rest, I returned to my office and finished dunging out and cleaning the last closet. Aaaaahhhhh, DONE!! Now I will spend two or three days doing other errands and more fun "stuff" before cleaning my husband's office...the last room to be done. YAY! If anyone told me a few years ago that I would ever have the energy to spend 5 to 8 hours a day, every day for more than a week, cleaning house, I would never have believed it. Praising God for this change in my life. YES!!
When my husband returned from work this evening I asked him if we could go out for dinner, but I really didn't want to go out. I just didn't want to have to cook. My husband loves to cook and since he is starting to recover from his stresses of the past year, he volunteered to cook up some fish and "something else". What a relief. I was in too much pain to feel any guilt for allowing him to take on cooking dinner after his own very busy day.
He coated some tilapia with panko, fried it in olive oil and it tasted fabulous. I made a salad and he added in a pot of Israeli couscous mixed with sauteed onions and baby peas. It was a simple, delicious, wonderful meal and I am so grateful to him. Not making dinner was what gave me the energy to complete the cleaning of my room and he felt fantastic that he could help me out with something where he could use his creativity.
While I was cleaning, four of my closest out of town friends picked today to give me a phone call. I think that is why I accomplished so much. I have mastered the art of dusting, sorting, packing, dishwashing etc., while having the phone tucked under my chin and lodged against one shoulder. The more we talked, the more I got done. I am so grateful they were all in the mood for long conversations.
A good day....off to shower and get the dust out of my hair. One more room....one more room......
Monday, January 22, 2018
Well, He ALMOST Had a Full Day Off Today
I was able to go grocery shopping relatively early this morning....well, actually it was just after 9am, so I guess not so early after all. O well, the shopping is done and that is what matters!
My husband was just waking up and getting out of bed when I left. When I returned about 90 minutes later he was busy preparing a work email to be sent immediately, after hearing from a colleague he has been tracking for the past month in an attempt to get the information to send out in the email. So, by the time he was finished he worked another 2 hours on a day off. We knew he would be working almost a full day yesterday, but today was a surprise....why we were surprised only the Lord knows at this point. By rights we should have expected it. Whine, whine whine, grinch, grinch, grinch, grouse, grouse, grouse, complain, complain, complain! hahahahaha 'Twas ever thus!
The sun is shining again today, so brightly. I LOVE it! It is only -3C this afternoon, while down the highway in Moose Jaw it is +4C....the compensation for being buried down in a big river valley I suppose. We are only 71km away from each other, yet the differences in temperature, storm patterns etc. can be huge. Usually Moose Jaw gets the better end of those deals, which is one of the many things I miss about not living there any more.
Sure lucked into some great grocery sales today. WOW! My over $200 grocery order rang in at $161 dollars! AND I wracked up over $15 in PC Plus points for future use. I came home from shopping very happy indeed!
I am also delighted today because my husband started tackling a sorting project that arose from my cleaning project in his library! I asked him if he could manage to sort the contents of two large boxes and manage to get everything he didn't need to unpack and store elsewhere into only one box. After lunch he began the process and spent nearly 90 minutes happily going through all kinds of "stuff". He has a stack of papers ready for the garbage (a near miracle for my paper hoarding fella), another stack of papers for me to shred when he is finished sorting, has put all kinds of things away in places where they should have been put three years ago when we moved in here, and is whittling down very well what will need to be stored back in one of the two boxes. I am proud of him. He detests sorting projects because he can't decide what to do with things, what to keep and what to throw out. The 90 minutes he has spent thus far on the project could have been accomplished in less than 15 minutes if it was my project to do. I love the fun of deciding in a hurry what to do with things, can spot the difference between what needs to be kept and what can be gotten rid of very quickly, but for my husband it is torture. I feel badly for him...such an emotional struggle over such little details. I can't relate to it at all, I have to admit. I am not one for regrets over pieces of paper that are now quite useless and have only nostalgia as a reason to be kept. I am not a nostalgic sort of person, at least not when it comes to keeping "stuff". It rarely if ever influences my decisions. In his usual fashion when it comes to these sorts of projects, my husband has pooped out mentally just before he has completed the task. He claims he will come back and finish in a couple of hours. AND yes, he definitely will finish and put his messes away before bedtime this evening. I will make sure of it!! He had to do the project in the library because it is the only space big enough upstairs to do it, the same library I only just finished cleaning and am not impressed that I will now have to revacuum the carpet when he is done, BUT at least he is doing it and I am not going to share such a small annoyance of mine with him. He is doing it without whining or wingeing. Until he got tired of it he has not been dragging his feet about getting things put away where they belong. This is one of the few back logged sorting projects he has taken on in our marriage where I have not felt like a mom nagging at a 5 year old to clean up his toys!! hahaha I guess it is never too late to grow and change and I am pleased with his attitude today. Onward and upward. I figure, if life follows its usual pattern, that about the time he FINALLY gets everything he moved into this townhouse unpacked and put where it belongs, it will be time to move again and he will have no time to sort and pack properly again and when we get to the new place we will have closets and basement filled with unpacked items again that will be there until just before we move again....again. hahaha Do I know the score or what??
While he was sorting I could have been relaxing and taking a day off myself, but decided it wasn't fair to force him into that project while I spent the time lying around reading a book, so I did the ironing. I did laundry yesterday while he was at his meeting. It means that when he returns to work tomorrow I can launch immediately into cleaning my own office. Wow, does it need it!! I am budgeting 2 days in there, then 2 days in my husband's office and then a weekend of no housework before I start back onto the weekly cleaning schedule.
Hmmmm....I'm deep cleaning every room in the house, he is sorting and putting away after leaving his extra stuff for so long....yup, I am guessing in a few months we are going to be on the move again. O Lord, I so hope I am completely wrong about that....I can't face another move..seriously I CANNOT FACE IT!
CANNOT...cannot...cannot...cannot....face....moving....again......sigh.....
My husband was just waking up and getting out of bed when I left. When I returned about 90 minutes later he was busy preparing a work email to be sent immediately, after hearing from a colleague he has been tracking for the past month in an attempt to get the information to send out in the email. So, by the time he was finished he worked another 2 hours on a day off. We knew he would be working almost a full day yesterday, but today was a surprise....why we were surprised only the Lord knows at this point. By rights we should have expected it. Whine, whine whine, grinch, grinch, grinch, grouse, grouse, grouse, complain, complain, complain! hahahahaha 'Twas ever thus!
The sun is shining again today, so brightly. I LOVE it! It is only -3C this afternoon, while down the highway in Moose Jaw it is +4C....the compensation for being buried down in a big river valley I suppose. We are only 71km away from each other, yet the differences in temperature, storm patterns etc. can be huge. Usually Moose Jaw gets the better end of those deals, which is one of the many things I miss about not living there any more.
Sure lucked into some great grocery sales today. WOW! My over $200 grocery order rang in at $161 dollars! AND I wracked up over $15 in PC Plus points for future use. I came home from shopping very happy indeed!
I am also delighted today because my husband started tackling a sorting project that arose from my cleaning project in his library! I asked him if he could manage to sort the contents of two large boxes and manage to get everything he didn't need to unpack and store elsewhere into only one box. After lunch he began the process and spent nearly 90 minutes happily going through all kinds of "stuff". He has a stack of papers ready for the garbage (a near miracle for my paper hoarding fella), another stack of papers for me to shred when he is finished sorting, has put all kinds of things away in places where they should have been put three years ago when we moved in here, and is whittling down very well what will need to be stored back in one of the two boxes. I am proud of him. He detests sorting projects because he can't decide what to do with things, what to keep and what to throw out. The 90 minutes he has spent thus far on the project could have been accomplished in less than 15 minutes if it was my project to do. I love the fun of deciding in a hurry what to do with things, can spot the difference between what needs to be kept and what can be gotten rid of very quickly, but for my husband it is torture. I feel badly for him...such an emotional struggle over such little details. I can't relate to it at all, I have to admit. I am not one for regrets over pieces of paper that are now quite useless and have only nostalgia as a reason to be kept. I am not a nostalgic sort of person, at least not when it comes to keeping "stuff". It rarely if ever influences my decisions. In his usual fashion when it comes to these sorts of projects, my husband has pooped out mentally just before he has completed the task. He claims he will come back and finish in a couple of hours. AND yes, he definitely will finish and put his messes away before bedtime this evening. I will make sure of it!! He had to do the project in the library because it is the only space big enough upstairs to do it, the same library I only just finished cleaning and am not impressed that I will now have to revacuum the carpet when he is done, BUT at least he is doing it and I am not going to share such a small annoyance of mine with him. He is doing it without whining or wingeing. Until he got tired of it he has not been dragging his feet about getting things put away where they belong. This is one of the few back logged sorting projects he has taken on in our marriage where I have not felt like a mom nagging at a 5 year old to clean up his toys!! hahaha I guess it is never too late to grow and change and I am pleased with his attitude today. Onward and upward. I figure, if life follows its usual pattern, that about the time he FINALLY gets everything he moved into this townhouse unpacked and put where it belongs, it will be time to move again and he will have no time to sort and pack properly again and when we get to the new place we will have closets and basement filled with unpacked items again that will be there until just before we move again....again. hahaha Do I know the score or what??
While he was sorting I could have been relaxing and taking a day off myself, but decided it wasn't fair to force him into that project while I spent the time lying around reading a book, so I did the ironing. I did laundry yesterday while he was at his meeting. It means that when he returns to work tomorrow I can launch immediately into cleaning my own office. Wow, does it need it!! I am budgeting 2 days in there, then 2 days in my husband's office and then a weekend of no housework before I start back onto the weekly cleaning schedule.
Hmmmm....I'm deep cleaning every room in the house, he is sorting and putting away after leaving his extra stuff for so long....yup, I am guessing in a few months we are going to be on the move again. O Lord, I so hope I am completely wrong about that....I can't face another move..seriously I CANNOT FACE IT!
CANNOT...cannot...cannot...cannot....face....moving....again......sigh.....
Sunday, January 21, 2018
A Nice Start To the Service
This morning we enjoyed the service at St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Church.
Printed in the bulletin was the following “Prayer on Entering the Church:
I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in fear I will worship before thy holy temple. Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before me, that with a clear mind I may glorify thee forever, One Divine Power worshipped in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
The sermon was encouraging. The priest talked about how a timeless God, Christ who is the same “yesterday, today and forever “, destroys our modern concept of time being past, present and future. God pulls our past and our future into our life in the present, changing nostalgia or regret from the past into gratitude, and our unrealistic fantasy or dread about the future into hope for God’s continued presence and help. Thank you Father Schroeder!
Lunch is over and I am watching an international skiing event broadcast from the beautiful Italian Alps. Soon my husband will call for a ride home from a meeting.
The sun is shining, the air temperature is a pleasant -3C and all is well.
Printed in the bulletin was the following “Prayer on Entering the Church:
I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in fear I will worship before thy holy temple. Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before me, that with a clear mind I may glorify thee forever, One Divine Power worshipped in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
The sermon was encouraging. The priest talked about how a timeless God, Christ who is the same “yesterday, today and forever “, destroys our modern concept of time being past, present and future. God pulls our past and our future into our life in the present, changing nostalgia or regret from the past into gratitude, and our unrealistic fantasy or dread about the future into hope for God’s continued presence and help. Thank you Father Schroeder!
Lunch is over and I am watching an international skiing event broadcast from the beautiful Italian Alps. Soon my husband will call for a ride home from a meeting.
The sun is shining, the air temperature is a pleasant -3C and all is well.
Saturday, January 20, 2018
A "Sunshine in My Soul" Kind of Day
Thus far today has been sunny outside and in for me!
We had plans to get going early this morning to run some errands my husband had to help with, but he slept in until nearly 10am (after 3 wretched nights' sleeps in a row) and I wasn't about to wake him up. No worries that it put our day 2 hours behind schedule. We completed all the errands and then my husband decided he wanted to go to India Palace for lunch. SO glad I agreed and we had such an unexpected and delicious treat. One of the employees there, who has not been on duty the last few times we ate there, came up to Dell and greeted him like an old friend. My husband was delighted. hahaha The food was so tasty; my goodness their buffet has improved over the past few months! They are doing a fantastic business since switching over from being a European bistro. We are sad about it still, because it was wonderful to get something gourmet and different in this city that sports Indian restaurants every few blocks, BUT their buffet is very good so we still enjoy going there.
By the time my husband got to work it was 1:30pm! So, I began the last of the "library" cleaning project. 1158 books later, they have all been dusted, sorted and re-shelved! Everything in there has lost that dusty, depressed sort of look and I will not be as loathe to go in there now. haha I will take a couple of days off now to spend with my husband and then do the final two rooms. What a great feeling to actually be getting this project done!!! I am inspired now that when it comes time to tackle our disgracefully untidy basement, I will have the energy to seriously assist my husband!
The warmth of the past 4 days has certainly slushed up and pushed up the ice cover into a bumpier, more easily travelled surface in most places. The ice melt I put at the bottom of our back steps this morning actually worked to melt off what was left of the most dangerous patch of ice there and the the rest of the ice out to the car lot was crunchy and easily walked on. The sand the maintenance crew so kindly spread around our car just after the ice storm has had a chance now to bite into the ice and make it far less slippery for accessing the car doors. I am beyond grateful. My husband is still kind of freaked out by it all, so he refused to let go of my arm for as much as a second when I was outside the vehicle, hahaha. Bless him!
We had such a huge lunch today...I overfilled my plate and had to give some of my food to my husband. My attempts to get my appetite back under control since the Christmas/New Year dietary debacles must be working because I was able to feel it when I had eaten a sufficient amount and had no desire to consume so much as another mouthful at that point. Thank you Lord!!
Tomorrow we are going to attend a church we don't get to go to very often and afterward my husband will stay for their vestry meeting in an official capacity, while I find myself some lunch somewhere until he is ready to be picked up and taken home. I think I will ask a couple of the wives whose husbands will be at the meeting if they would like to go for a quick lunch out with me. Since it will be a spontaneous invitation I won't be surprised if no one is able to do that, but it is worth a try. I will see how I am feeling myself tomorrow rather than try to set something up ahead of time tonight. I am rather tired.
After the meeting my husband should be free to take the rest of his "day off", off!! Same on Monday, hopefully. He has set up his study leave for a week in February, so we are both looking forward to that. We will stay in the guest suite at my parents' facility in Calgary and he can be studying and writing at the library while I visit them during the daytimes. We decided we are going to risk driving after all as the cost of flights has become too much to handle for such a short distance. We are going to have a bit of a holiday at both ends of the trip, staying overnight in Medicine Hat on the way and maybe on the way home too. We always have fun when we stay there. We are starting to pray NOW about the weather and driving conditions and hoping for the best. We tried to book a flight...as these people at the other end of the trip ARE my parents and I don't want to chintz out when it comes to our rare visits to see them, but we couldn't bring ourselves to pay that much money, plus car rental. The airline fares make us feel like we are being gouged even though we know their costs are also going way up these days. My parents are very excited that we are coming, but we have not told them we are driving. They will freak out with worry, so why worry them until we have to, right? When we show up in our own car then they will know and that will be soon enough.
All seems to be well still with our son. He has yet another temporary job that will take up most of the next few weeks and now he has found some other full time positions to apply for. Being a Canadian on a shorter term visa is not helping him secure full time work, but at least he is landing interviews and discovering that is the biggest hindrance to being hired. It is not because he is messing up at the interviews, so he is relieved about that.
I suppose I should get moving again, now that I have had a short rest time post cleaning, and get thinking of something light and tasty for us to have for dinner. It is on the way to 6pm and I just realized my husband will likely stay at the office and work through the dinner hour since he was so late going in today. Hmmm...what would I like to have for myself??? Oh, I know...I have some curried chick peas in carrots and onions that my husband made last week. They can thaw in a hurry and be eaten with some olive bread. Yes...I think that is going to be good. My husband will enjoy that too when he finally gets home. There....all settled!
We had plans to get going early this morning to run some errands my husband had to help with, but he slept in until nearly 10am (after 3 wretched nights' sleeps in a row) and I wasn't about to wake him up. No worries that it put our day 2 hours behind schedule. We completed all the errands and then my husband decided he wanted to go to India Palace for lunch. SO glad I agreed and we had such an unexpected and delicious treat. One of the employees there, who has not been on duty the last few times we ate there, came up to Dell and greeted him like an old friend. My husband was delighted. hahaha The food was so tasty; my goodness their buffet has improved over the past few months! They are doing a fantastic business since switching over from being a European bistro. We are sad about it still, because it was wonderful to get something gourmet and different in this city that sports Indian restaurants every few blocks, BUT their buffet is very good so we still enjoy going there.
By the time my husband got to work it was 1:30pm! So, I began the last of the "library" cleaning project. 1158 books later, they have all been dusted, sorted and re-shelved! Everything in there has lost that dusty, depressed sort of look and I will not be as loathe to go in there now. haha I will take a couple of days off now to spend with my husband and then do the final two rooms. What a great feeling to actually be getting this project done!!! I am inspired now that when it comes time to tackle our disgracefully untidy basement, I will have the energy to seriously assist my husband!
The warmth of the past 4 days has certainly slushed up and pushed up the ice cover into a bumpier, more easily travelled surface in most places. The ice melt I put at the bottom of our back steps this morning actually worked to melt off what was left of the most dangerous patch of ice there and the the rest of the ice out to the car lot was crunchy and easily walked on. The sand the maintenance crew so kindly spread around our car just after the ice storm has had a chance now to bite into the ice and make it far less slippery for accessing the car doors. I am beyond grateful. My husband is still kind of freaked out by it all, so he refused to let go of my arm for as much as a second when I was outside the vehicle, hahaha. Bless him!
We had such a huge lunch today...I overfilled my plate and had to give some of my food to my husband. My attempts to get my appetite back under control since the Christmas/New Year dietary debacles must be working because I was able to feel it when I had eaten a sufficient amount and had no desire to consume so much as another mouthful at that point. Thank you Lord!!
Tomorrow we are going to attend a church we don't get to go to very often and afterward my husband will stay for their vestry meeting in an official capacity, while I find myself some lunch somewhere until he is ready to be picked up and taken home. I think I will ask a couple of the wives whose husbands will be at the meeting if they would like to go for a quick lunch out with me. Since it will be a spontaneous invitation I won't be surprised if no one is able to do that, but it is worth a try. I will see how I am feeling myself tomorrow rather than try to set something up ahead of time tonight. I am rather tired.
After the meeting my husband should be free to take the rest of his "day off", off!! Same on Monday, hopefully. He has set up his study leave for a week in February, so we are both looking forward to that. We will stay in the guest suite at my parents' facility in Calgary and he can be studying and writing at the library while I visit them during the daytimes. We decided we are going to risk driving after all as the cost of flights has become too much to handle for such a short distance. We are going to have a bit of a holiday at both ends of the trip, staying overnight in Medicine Hat on the way and maybe on the way home too. We always have fun when we stay there. We are starting to pray NOW about the weather and driving conditions and hoping for the best. We tried to book a flight...as these people at the other end of the trip ARE my parents and I don't want to chintz out when it comes to our rare visits to see them, but we couldn't bring ourselves to pay that much money, plus car rental. The airline fares make us feel like we are being gouged even though we know their costs are also going way up these days. My parents are very excited that we are coming, but we have not told them we are driving. They will freak out with worry, so why worry them until we have to, right? When we show up in our own car then they will know and that will be soon enough.
All seems to be well still with our son. He has yet another temporary job that will take up most of the next few weeks and now he has found some other full time positions to apply for. Being a Canadian on a shorter term visa is not helping him secure full time work, but at least he is landing interviews and discovering that is the biggest hindrance to being hired. It is not because he is messing up at the interviews, so he is relieved about that.
I suppose I should get moving again, now that I have had a short rest time post cleaning, and get thinking of something light and tasty for us to have for dinner. It is on the way to 6pm and I just realized my husband will likely stay at the office and work through the dinner hour since he was so late going in today. Hmmm...what would I like to have for myself??? Oh, I know...I have some curried chick peas in carrots and onions that my husband made last week. They can thaw in a hurry and be eaten with some olive bread. Yes...I think that is going to be good. My husband will enjoy that too when he finally gets home. There....all settled!
Friday, January 19, 2018
So Glad I Didn’t Have To Go Out Today
Although the sun has been brightly shining all day, and boosting our high temperature to +4C instead of the predicted +1C, I am happy that I got to walk outside yesterday when the overcast sky prevented a film of water from forming on top of the worst of the ice. Today that film is there, making the remaining icy surfaces extremely treacherous to walk on. I definitely could not have remained upright had these conditions existed yesterday! Yay!!!
Instead I spent a second day cleaning in the library...five and a half hours worth of emptying the closet, wiping out the writing desk and pulling the next set of books off the shelves for dusting. So far I have dusted 21 note binders, 27 magazines and 817 books. Only just over 200 books and their respective shelves to go....tomorrow’s job if I don’t have to go to my husband’s office to do the next lot of filing. Next week I will clean the last two rooms and then it will be time to go back downstairs and start the regular weekly cleaning once again. haha It never ends, this cleaning business, does it?
I feel great knowing I still have the energy to do this sort of thing. YES!!
Instead I spent a second day cleaning in the library...five and a half hours worth of emptying the closet, wiping out the writing desk and pulling the next set of books off the shelves for dusting. So far I have dusted 21 note binders, 27 magazines and 817 books. Only just over 200 books and their respective shelves to go....tomorrow’s job if I don’t have to go to my husband’s office to do the next lot of filing. Next week I will clean the last two rooms and then it will be time to go back downstairs and start the regular weekly cleaning once again. haha It never ends, this cleaning business, does it?
I feel great knowing I still have the energy to do this sort of thing. YES!!
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Yup...Blessed is What I am!! Indeed!!
I made it. I got out of here. And it gets better!!
No problems catching the bus at 12:30pm. The temperature came up very quickly just after my last post and the ice melted on our complex sidewalks in just the right spots for me to get to the bus safely. I didn't take my cane and it turned out to be just as well.
Accomplished my errands in good time, found each little item I needed to purchase and had a good lunch in the food court at Cornwall Centre. I felt so excited to be away from home for awhile. I found a nice little handmixer in Hudsons Bay to replace my old cheapie that finally fell apart the other day after about three decades of service. After lunch I window shopped just for the fun of it all around the mall and as a result had a serendipitous meeting with a lady I occasionally get to pray with. I haven't seen her in a long time and we had the best visit just standing in the mall chattering away like magpies. Another HUGE blessing in my day!!! Although she is a prayer warrior she is very down to earth, given to somewhat salty language on occasion and I just love her to death. What a special treat as she was in no hurry so we had lots of time to chatter.
As a result of the prolonged conversation I just missed my bus home...as seems to be my wont these days. hahaha So, I decided to waste a bit of time looking in some stores I don't normally bother going into when I am downtown. I found a magazine shop that, while it doesn't carry the New York Times Crossword Puzzle magazines I was hoping it carried, it DID have a cooler stocked with my husband's favourite Canadian version of Japanese green iced tea: the unsweetened, no other flavourings added variety! It is next to impossible to find at any of the other places I shop. The grocery stores carry every other Pure Leaf iced tea, but not the unsweetened green. I loaded as many of the bottles into my Hudsons Bay bag and purse as I could reasonably manage to carry and stepped back outside with the intention of catching my bus home right away.
As I started toward the bus stop I thought better of it and decided it was too lovely a day to be riding on a dirty old bus full of cell phone aficionados. All the streets downtown were wet and somewhat slushy, no real ice to speak of, (until tonight when it freezes again), so I decided to stick to the main street home and risk the walk. There was only one section that was dangerous: a 2 block section that is the slickest, slipperiest ice I have walked on for many a year. I held my breath and did my best old person, slow shuffle until I reached the end of that particular strip, crossed a street and realized I was going to be in the same circumstance for another block. I started to panic until I realized there was a strip of grass beside the icy sidewalk that had sufficient greenery, soggy dead leaves and broken ice pellets on it to be safer to walk on than the sidewalk so I eased myself onto it and eased myself along with a bit more confidence. By the time I got to the sidewalks at our complex there was very little ice left and where the ice was still clinging to the walk, a lot of sand had been thrown down after the temperature warmed up, so it was pretty safe. I got home just fine, enjoyed the fresh, warmer air and felt pretty thrilled to have conquered some ice walking fears. Thank you Lord! With no deadlines for the late afternoon it didn't matter than my usual 30 minute walk took just over 60 minutes. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle...actor/comedian Tim Conway's "little old man" character would have been so proud of me....are any of you old enough to remember him?
Today was like a holiday after being stuck inside for a whole week! I know it was not good sense to walk on 3 or more blocks of such dangerous ice, but I live on the prairies and at some point I can't hide in the house every day of the winter if there is any chance I can get at least a bit of outdoor exposure and exercise. I won't walk on there again this winter, but it was still a good emotionally growing experience to give it one successful try. It will make me less frightened the next time I HAVE to go somewhere with ice on the ground.
So yeah...I am blessed and today it was certainly evident. I am very, very grateful things turned out so very well and I will not tempt "fate" by taking any more unnecessary forays out over the ice. Tomorrow I will be back into the cleaning groove, I can feel it! haha The rest of the library will get finished, I am sure, even though there is lots left to do. I can clean this little office of mine on Saturday, giving my husband a couple of days to get some of his "stuff" put away properly in the final room to be cleaned early next week...and then it will be time to start with the regular weekly cleaning downstairs once again. Really happy I began this major project and the end is in sight!
Blessings everyone and thanks to those of you who prayed I would stay safe outside and who sent me best wishes for getting out of here more often this winter.
No problems catching the bus at 12:30pm. The temperature came up very quickly just after my last post and the ice melted on our complex sidewalks in just the right spots for me to get to the bus safely. I didn't take my cane and it turned out to be just as well.
Accomplished my errands in good time, found each little item I needed to purchase and had a good lunch in the food court at Cornwall Centre. I felt so excited to be away from home for awhile. I found a nice little handmixer in Hudsons Bay to replace my old cheapie that finally fell apart the other day after about three decades of service. After lunch I window shopped just for the fun of it all around the mall and as a result had a serendipitous meeting with a lady I occasionally get to pray with. I haven't seen her in a long time and we had the best visit just standing in the mall chattering away like magpies. Another HUGE blessing in my day!!! Although she is a prayer warrior she is very down to earth, given to somewhat salty language on occasion and I just love her to death. What a special treat as she was in no hurry so we had lots of time to chatter.
As a result of the prolonged conversation I just missed my bus home...as seems to be my wont these days. hahaha So, I decided to waste a bit of time looking in some stores I don't normally bother going into when I am downtown. I found a magazine shop that, while it doesn't carry the New York Times Crossword Puzzle magazines I was hoping it carried, it DID have a cooler stocked with my husband's favourite Canadian version of Japanese green iced tea: the unsweetened, no other flavourings added variety! It is next to impossible to find at any of the other places I shop. The grocery stores carry every other Pure Leaf iced tea, but not the unsweetened green. I loaded as many of the bottles into my Hudsons Bay bag and purse as I could reasonably manage to carry and stepped back outside with the intention of catching my bus home right away.
As I started toward the bus stop I thought better of it and decided it was too lovely a day to be riding on a dirty old bus full of cell phone aficionados. All the streets downtown were wet and somewhat slushy, no real ice to speak of, (until tonight when it freezes again), so I decided to stick to the main street home and risk the walk. There was only one section that was dangerous: a 2 block section that is the slickest, slipperiest ice I have walked on for many a year. I held my breath and did my best old person, slow shuffle until I reached the end of that particular strip, crossed a street and realized I was going to be in the same circumstance for another block. I started to panic until I realized there was a strip of grass beside the icy sidewalk that had sufficient greenery, soggy dead leaves and broken ice pellets on it to be safer to walk on than the sidewalk so I eased myself onto it and eased myself along with a bit more confidence. By the time I got to the sidewalks at our complex there was very little ice left and where the ice was still clinging to the walk, a lot of sand had been thrown down after the temperature warmed up, so it was pretty safe. I got home just fine, enjoyed the fresh, warmer air and felt pretty thrilled to have conquered some ice walking fears. Thank you Lord! With no deadlines for the late afternoon it didn't matter than my usual 30 minute walk took just over 60 minutes. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle...actor/comedian Tim Conway's "little old man" character would have been so proud of me....are any of you old enough to remember him?
Today was like a holiday after being stuck inside for a whole week! I know it was not good sense to walk on 3 or more blocks of such dangerous ice, but I live on the prairies and at some point I can't hide in the house every day of the winter if there is any chance I can get at least a bit of outdoor exposure and exercise. I won't walk on there again this winter, but it was still a good emotionally growing experience to give it one successful try. It will make me less frightened the next time I HAVE to go somewhere with ice on the ground.
So yeah...I am blessed and today it was certainly evident. I am very, very grateful things turned out so very well and I will not tempt "fate" by taking any more unnecessary forays out over the ice. Tomorrow I will be back into the cleaning groove, I can feel it! haha The rest of the library will get finished, I am sure, even though there is lots left to do. I can clean this little office of mine on Saturday, giving my husband a couple of days to get some of his "stuff" put away properly in the final room to be cleaned early next week...and then it will be time to start with the regular weekly cleaning downstairs once again. Really happy I began this major project and the end is in sight!
Blessings everyone and thanks to those of you who prayed I would stay safe outside and who sent me best wishes for getting out of here more often this winter.
Meditation Time
This morning I have abandoned the housework to catch up on a few more interesting things, like reading another chapter in a novel I am enjoying right now. (Labyrinth, by Kate Mosse) It makes great bedtime and "it is the middle of the night and I can't sleep" reading, but I read from 4am to nearly 7am this morning and wanted to read just one more chapter after my husband left for work. I am thinking about what life in France MAY have actually been like during the 1200AD's about the time the Crusaders were heading into the area where the novel takes place.
While doing housework I have been thinking about why it may be that each move we have made in the past decade has been accompanied by a fall and broken bones, surgery and long term recovery time within a year of those moves. Each time the disaster has occurred just at the most crucial time for discovering and building on new friendship possibilities and has pretty much destroyed many of those relationships before they had a chance to take root. Making new friends at this age is a tricky proposition and takes a lot of time and energy on the part of the "newby" in town. I have been somewhat thwarted during the times of peak interest by my other aged 60'ish aquaintances. The interest peaks, then I fall down and am out of commission for a year or more, so the interest eventually flickers and dies because I can't get out and see them or do anything fun with them. That is understandable. This past week of being stuck inside I have realized how few friends I have of my own age and circumstance here in the city where I actually live. Hmmmmm.....I do have good friends here...younger, fully employed friends with children still at home, or with tiny granchildren to spend most of their off work time with. It has been kind of a lonely week and I am even more thankful now than I was at the time for the fun lunch hour we shared with out of town friends last Friday...has it really only been a week since that event???? Wow, despite all the wonderful phone calls and emails this past week I certainly am feeling cut off from the rest of the world. Doesn't seem to take long! hahaha
Another thought has been how my husband and I have managed with sharing one vehicle for the past 16 years! I realize, as I have been thinking about it, how many lost opportunities have happened for me because of not being able to go where I need/want to go, particularly when we have lived in smaller towns with no, or very unreliable, public transporation. Since moving to Regina I have had the car more regularly than at any other time in the past 16 years, but I can't count on it being available at the same times of every day of every week. As much as I enjoyed being in choir, after we changed rehearsal locations every rehearsal was stressful because I never knew until often the last minute whether or not I had the car to use. I am disappointed that we will not be here at the right times for me to audition/rehearse for the musical production of South Pacific and I was so looking forward to it, BUT as it turns out what I thought was the wonderful time of Thursday night for most of the rehearsals after I get back from my husband's study leave week elsewhere, now coincides with late night meetings for my husband at places other than his office, so he has to take the car for most of those rehearsal nights. On the one hand it isn't that big a deal, but on the other hand this car nonsense is not making my ability to make and deepen friendships any easier. Doing things together...away from home mostly....seems to be the way people socialize here so if I can't get away to "do" things I am rather hampered in my attempts at friendship. I am not particularly lonely, just wondering what else I can do to fix this and not coming up with any creative ideas at the moment. Maybe it isn't supposed to be fixed. As my husband and I enter a time of prayerful discernment about our future, perhaps it is just as wise not to put a lot more time and energy into creating any more local relationships. (????) I don't know....just musing...... Am I just so demoralized by failed past attempts that I am loathe to do any more reaching out, so it is really my own fault if I don't make a lot of friends here? Kinda thinkin' that is the case......
I am supposed to be catching the bus in less than an hour's time but the sky is as grey as grey, there is no sunshine today to assist the rise in temperature nor the melting of the ice. It is still below zero outside. So do I continue to wait and see if the predicted warmth arrives later today, or do I just give up going outside as a lost cause again, put my cleaning clothes on and get back to work?
A friend is having cancer surgery right at this very moment. She had a lumpectomy last fall but the tissue surrounding the removal of the tumor is now showing signs of possible cancer spread. So today she is having lymph nodes removed to see where and how far it has spread since the first surgery. Sigh.... Cancer is such a wicked disease. The emotional toll it takes on survivors seems almost as debilitating in some ways as the physical toll of surgeries and treatments. How does a person let it go from the back of her thoughts once the damned disease has reared its ugly head the first time? There are many accursed diseases lurking out there waiting to attack, but that is one of the more devastating ones in my opinion. My own osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes can also bring on debilitating conditions, BUT they don't come and go the way cancers do. They simply are there all the time, presenting whatever symptoms they present. With those diseases you pretty much know what is going on from day to day, year to year, very few surprises. They will stay the same, improve a bit, or worsen, but they don't usually jump on you with some sort of surprise attack. Every time I move I have the possibility of breaking a bone, but it is a simple fact of my life that never changes, so I don't think about it apart from icy weeks like this one. Type 2 diabetes eventually worsens, but there are medications to help control the symptoms and I know it is there in my body every day of my life. Again, few surprises coming out of nowhere. Both my diseases have a certain trajectory that varies from person to person, but basically are daily facts of life. Cancer isn't in the same way. There are hopes to be raised and dashed and raised and dashed with cancer. It is a disease that is completely unpredictable. My admiration for friends and family who have battled it, some of them more than once or even twice, grows and grows because they have to cope with the ongoing concerns about a disease that disappears often after treatments but may or may not return some day in the same or different form.
I am thinking about how I have been blessed so much of my life. There have been so many trials, as there are for most people, but I am so conscious that God is there with me. My husband and I experienced the first of many career, financial and health crises back in our late 20's and early 30's. We have had all these years to see the hand of God at work in the midst and we have learned a lot about trust that we can fall back as we see life possibly about to toughen up once again. Other friends in their late 40's, 50's and 60's are experiencing any or all of those things for the first time in their lives. They are understandably terrified. They too are having to learn now first hand what trusting God really means when the bottom falls out of life as it has been known and enjoyed. The older you get the more difficul it is to start that intensely spiritual kind of journey! As we watch their terror and confusion we wish we could just drop some of the trust in God we have been learning about into their lives. Unfortunately we can only learn to trust God when we see him at work for ourselves. Other peoples' stories can encourage to a point, but they are not "us" and are not living "our" lives of upset. So many friends now to pray for that I never thought would need our meagre prayers about their life circumstances. How I pray they will see how God is going to care for them and relax into it despite the outward changes in circumstance.
So now it is time to think about whether or not I get ready and try to get out to the bus stop, whether or not my cane will help me or if it will just be a nuisance once I get downtown. Since my ice pick is not that effective on the kind of curling rink ice we have outside, perhaps it is just as well not to bother with it. Hmmmm.....
Okay...time to stop thinking and get doing!! One way or the other: go downtown or start cleaning again!
While doing housework I have been thinking about why it may be that each move we have made in the past decade has been accompanied by a fall and broken bones, surgery and long term recovery time within a year of those moves. Each time the disaster has occurred just at the most crucial time for discovering and building on new friendship possibilities and has pretty much destroyed many of those relationships before they had a chance to take root. Making new friends at this age is a tricky proposition and takes a lot of time and energy on the part of the "newby" in town. I have been somewhat thwarted during the times of peak interest by my other aged 60'ish aquaintances. The interest peaks, then I fall down and am out of commission for a year or more, so the interest eventually flickers and dies because I can't get out and see them or do anything fun with them. That is understandable. This past week of being stuck inside I have realized how few friends I have of my own age and circumstance here in the city where I actually live. Hmmmmm.....I do have good friends here...younger, fully employed friends with children still at home, or with tiny granchildren to spend most of their off work time with. It has been kind of a lonely week and I am even more thankful now than I was at the time for the fun lunch hour we shared with out of town friends last Friday...has it really only been a week since that event???? Wow, despite all the wonderful phone calls and emails this past week I certainly am feeling cut off from the rest of the world. Doesn't seem to take long! hahaha
Another thought has been how my husband and I have managed with sharing one vehicle for the past 16 years! I realize, as I have been thinking about it, how many lost opportunities have happened for me because of not being able to go where I need/want to go, particularly when we have lived in smaller towns with no, or very unreliable, public transporation. Since moving to Regina I have had the car more regularly than at any other time in the past 16 years, but I can't count on it being available at the same times of every day of every week. As much as I enjoyed being in choir, after we changed rehearsal locations every rehearsal was stressful because I never knew until often the last minute whether or not I had the car to use. I am disappointed that we will not be here at the right times for me to audition/rehearse for the musical production of South Pacific and I was so looking forward to it, BUT as it turns out what I thought was the wonderful time of Thursday night for most of the rehearsals after I get back from my husband's study leave week elsewhere, now coincides with late night meetings for my husband at places other than his office, so he has to take the car for most of those rehearsal nights. On the one hand it isn't that big a deal, but on the other hand this car nonsense is not making my ability to make and deepen friendships any easier. Doing things together...away from home mostly....seems to be the way people socialize here so if I can't get away to "do" things I am rather hampered in my attempts at friendship. I am not particularly lonely, just wondering what else I can do to fix this and not coming up with any creative ideas at the moment. Maybe it isn't supposed to be fixed. As my husband and I enter a time of prayerful discernment about our future, perhaps it is just as wise not to put a lot more time and energy into creating any more local relationships. (????) I don't know....just musing...... Am I just so demoralized by failed past attempts that I am loathe to do any more reaching out, so it is really my own fault if I don't make a lot of friends here? Kinda thinkin' that is the case......
I am supposed to be catching the bus in less than an hour's time but the sky is as grey as grey, there is no sunshine today to assist the rise in temperature nor the melting of the ice. It is still below zero outside. So do I continue to wait and see if the predicted warmth arrives later today, or do I just give up going outside as a lost cause again, put my cleaning clothes on and get back to work?
A friend is having cancer surgery right at this very moment. She had a lumpectomy last fall but the tissue surrounding the removal of the tumor is now showing signs of possible cancer spread. So today she is having lymph nodes removed to see where and how far it has spread since the first surgery. Sigh.... Cancer is such a wicked disease. The emotional toll it takes on survivors seems almost as debilitating in some ways as the physical toll of surgeries and treatments. How does a person let it go from the back of her thoughts once the damned disease has reared its ugly head the first time? There are many accursed diseases lurking out there waiting to attack, but that is one of the more devastating ones in my opinion. My own osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes can also bring on debilitating conditions, BUT they don't come and go the way cancers do. They simply are there all the time, presenting whatever symptoms they present. With those diseases you pretty much know what is going on from day to day, year to year, very few surprises. They will stay the same, improve a bit, or worsen, but they don't usually jump on you with some sort of surprise attack. Every time I move I have the possibility of breaking a bone, but it is a simple fact of my life that never changes, so I don't think about it apart from icy weeks like this one. Type 2 diabetes eventually worsens, but there are medications to help control the symptoms and I know it is there in my body every day of my life. Again, few surprises coming out of nowhere. Both my diseases have a certain trajectory that varies from person to person, but basically are daily facts of life. Cancer isn't in the same way. There are hopes to be raised and dashed and raised and dashed with cancer. It is a disease that is completely unpredictable. My admiration for friends and family who have battled it, some of them more than once or even twice, grows and grows because they have to cope with the ongoing concerns about a disease that disappears often after treatments but may or may not return some day in the same or different form.
I am thinking about how I have been blessed so much of my life. There have been so many trials, as there are for most people, but I am so conscious that God is there with me. My husband and I experienced the first of many career, financial and health crises back in our late 20's and early 30's. We have had all these years to see the hand of God at work in the midst and we have learned a lot about trust that we can fall back as we see life possibly about to toughen up once again. Other friends in their late 40's, 50's and 60's are experiencing any or all of those things for the first time in their lives. They are understandably terrified. They too are having to learn now first hand what trusting God really means when the bottom falls out of life as it has been known and enjoyed. The older you get the more difficul it is to start that intensely spiritual kind of journey! As we watch their terror and confusion we wish we could just drop some of the trust in God we have been learning about into their lives. Unfortunately we can only learn to trust God when we see him at work for ourselves. Other peoples' stories can encourage to a point, but they are not "us" and are not living "our" lives of upset. So many friends now to pray for that I never thought would need our meagre prayers about their life circumstances. How I pray they will see how God is going to care for them and relax into it despite the outward changes in circumstance.
So now it is time to think about whether or not I get ready and try to get out to the bus stop, whether or not my cane will help me or if it will just be a nuisance once I get downtown. Since my ice pick is not that effective on the kind of curling rink ice we have outside, perhaps it is just as well not to bother with it. Hmmmm.....
Okay...time to stop thinking and get doing!! One way or the other: go downtown or start cleaning again!
Here’s Hoping....
I ate my breakfast later than usual this morning so that I can delay eating lunch. This means, all being well, I can take the 12:30pm bus downtown to pay bills, buy a couple of small items and have a lunch treat before busing home again. Some of the sidewalk ice melted yesterday afternoon when we got to +3C, but there wasn’t sufficient wind to dry up much of the water. My hope is that by waiting until after noon, as the temperature is rising to +6C, the frozen areas on the sidewalks will be wet again so that it will be safe enough to go outside.
Here’s hoping......
Here’s hoping......
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Lofty Thoughts For a Frustrating Morning
It is on the way to noon and I am just now beginning the huge cleanup in the "library".
I realized after breakfast that my favourite sweater had a pull out in one of the shoulder seams. It took awhile of going through my husband's collection of spools of thread to find just the right colour and then take time to repair it so it didn't look like it was me that fixed it...sewing not being my "gift" and all......
My husband went in quite late to work this morning because he realized it had been awhile since he last checked the attic for mice. Up on the step ladder he went and disappeared into the ceiling. Yup...there was another mouse dead in one of the traps, so not only did we have to get rid of that and reset new traps, put out more poison, etc., I had to vacuum up all the bits of fiberglass insulation and mousie poops that fell out of the attic onto the hall carpeting. Wanting to do a VERY good job of that took some time.
This morning I had to put in a request for maintenance, again, because the toilet flush handle broke last night. My husband was up running around in the middle of the night knotting an empty wooden thread spool onto a bootlace to wrap around the chain in the toilet tank so we could flush. hahaha Ingenious, that is what my husband is. hahaha The plumber was just here to replace the handle and he is a chatterer so a five minute job took nearly a half hour out of my morning, but it was fun to visit. He knows I like to hear about his former life in the Philippines so....I am my own worst enemy when it comes to not being able to avoid visiting when I should be doing something more productive. haha
My husband left his work cell phone at home this morning so I spent rather a long time getting hold of him at work to ask him what to do about it. Fortunately, there is a newly installed upgrade on the office phone system, so his calls are automatically forwarded now to the office phone if he doesn't answer his cell within a set number of rings. So, I don't have to brave the ice to drive his phone to him. (drat.....)
I have only just begun dusting all the books and bookcases and am all ready distracted by an older book of collected thoughts and wisdom edited by Lillian Eicher Watson and published in 1951 by Simon and Schuster, New York. It is a wonderful book that is not going back onto the shelves until I have read all the "jots and tittles" by philosphers, theologians, humanitarians and authors of all kinds contained within its pages.
Here are a few interesting lines of wisdom I found at first glance:
Nurture your mind with great thoughts.
--Benjamin Disraeli
Who is a wise man? He who learns of all men.
--the Talmud
Do not grudge your brother his rest. He has at last become free, safe and immortal, and ranges joyous through the boundless heavens, he has left this low-lying region and has soared upwards to that place which receives in its happy bosom the souls set free from the chains of matter.
Your brother has not lost the light of day, but has obtained a more enduring light. He has not left us, but has gone on before.
--Seneca
Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.
--Robert Louis Stevenson
No longer forward nor behind
I look in hope or fear;
But grateful, take the good I find,
The best of now and here.
--John Greenleaf Whittier
Build a little fence of trust
Around today;
Fill the space with loving works,
And therein stay;
Look not through the sheltering bars
Upon tomorrow,
God will help thee bear what comes
of joy or sorrow.
--Mary Frances Butts
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword again nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
--Isaiah 2:4
I firmly believe that the future of civilization is absolutely dependent upon finding some way of resolving international differences without resorting to war.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower
Faith is one of the forces by which men live, and the total absence of it means collapse.
William James
And now it is lunch time and I have only spent 20 minutes cleaning. O well....there is the rest of the afternoon and tomorrow and the next day and the day after that and.......
I realized after breakfast that my favourite sweater had a pull out in one of the shoulder seams. It took awhile of going through my husband's collection of spools of thread to find just the right colour and then take time to repair it so it didn't look like it was me that fixed it...sewing not being my "gift" and all......
My husband went in quite late to work this morning because he realized it had been awhile since he last checked the attic for mice. Up on the step ladder he went and disappeared into the ceiling. Yup...there was another mouse dead in one of the traps, so not only did we have to get rid of that and reset new traps, put out more poison, etc., I had to vacuum up all the bits of fiberglass insulation and mousie poops that fell out of the attic onto the hall carpeting. Wanting to do a VERY good job of that took some time.
This morning I had to put in a request for maintenance, again, because the toilet flush handle broke last night. My husband was up running around in the middle of the night knotting an empty wooden thread spool onto a bootlace to wrap around the chain in the toilet tank so we could flush. hahaha Ingenious, that is what my husband is. hahaha The plumber was just here to replace the handle and he is a chatterer so a five minute job took nearly a half hour out of my morning, but it was fun to visit. He knows I like to hear about his former life in the Philippines so....I am my own worst enemy when it comes to not being able to avoid visiting when I should be doing something more productive. haha
My husband left his work cell phone at home this morning so I spent rather a long time getting hold of him at work to ask him what to do about it. Fortunately, there is a newly installed upgrade on the office phone system, so his calls are automatically forwarded now to the office phone if he doesn't answer his cell within a set number of rings. So, I don't have to brave the ice to drive his phone to him. (drat.....)
I have only just begun dusting all the books and bookcases and am all ready distracted by an older book of collected thoughts and wisdom edited by Lillian Eicher Watson and published in 1951 by Simon and Schuster, New York. It is a wonderful book that is not going back onto the shelves until I have read all the "jots and tittles" by philosphers, theologians, humanitarians and authors of all kinds contained within its pages.
Here are a few interesting lines of wisdom I found at first glance:
Nurture your mind with great thoughts.
--Benjamin Disraeli
Who is a wise man? He who learns of all men.
--the Talmud
Do not grudge your brother his rest. He has at last become free, safe and immortal, and ranges joyous through the boundless heavens, he has left this low-lying region and has soared upwards to that place which receives in its happy bosom the souls set free from the chains of matter.
Your brother has not lost the light of day, but has obtained a more enduring light. He has not left us, but has gone on before.
--Seneca
Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.
--Robert Louis Stevenson
No longer forward nor behind
I look in hope or fear;
But grateful, take the good I find,
The best of now and here.
--John Greenleaf Whittier
Build a little fence of trust
Around today;
Fill the space with loving works,
And therein stay;
Look not through the sheltering bars
Upon tomorrow,
God will help thee bear what comes
of joy or sorrow.
--Mary Frances Butts
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword again nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
--Isaiah 2:4
I firmly believe that the future of civilization is absolutely dependent upon finding some way of resolving international differences without resorting to war.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower
Faith is one of the forces by which men live, and the total absence of it means collapse.
William James
And now it is lunch time and I have only spent 20 minutes cleaning. O well....there is the rest of the afternoon and tomorrow and the next day and the day after that and.......
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