Apparently the majority of our city councillors do not personally have to actually walk anywhere in this city during the winter months. If they did, they would not have voted down the recent attempts to create a sidewalk snow and ice removal by-law here.
They show, by their actions, not only an ignorance of what those of us who are confined to pedestrian "transportation" during Regina winters have to endure and risk, but also a lack of respect for us, particularly hard working people such as EMT's who have to transport patients across all manner of dangerous driveways/sidewalks, and like postal delivery persons who have to walk their residential routes day after day no matter what the condition of the sidewalks. Obviously people with disabilities such as those with sight issues who struggle when their white canes cannot find the edges of sidewalks and driveways when the ice and snow are built up, people like me with osteoporosis whose canes, even with spikes, cannot dig into some of the icy buildups, people who depend on mobility aids of any kind that end up housebound for most of the winter season due to the refusal of too many other citizens to clear their sidewalks, are less important to society than those who scream and holler that they could "end up paying a fine if I don't remove the snow! A FINE!! Pity me......" Poor wee muffins!! Paying a fine is so much more devastating to you than a broken hip is to me??? NOT!
One of the statements given was the idea that "I feel like I am living in a police state." What on earth does that over the top statement even mean? A POLICE STATE simply because home and business owners are expected to comply with the responsibilities of property ownership rather than simply the joys??? A city that attempts to protect the physical health of all its citizens is not a police state. Give me a break....no, wait a moment....a break is what I am trying to avoid here!!
I have never lived in such a backward "city" as Regina when it comes to issues like this, issues that imply that those who own property in the city have an actual responsibility to others who need to access the sidewalks, driveways and parking lots that run adjacent and in front of those properties, even in winter.
The excuse that such a by-law would target low income senior citizens who aren't physically capable of clearing their walks doesn't hold much water with me. In other cities I have lived the by-laws are only enforced if a complaint is lodged. The attitude I have run into in residential neighbourhoods in the past is that if the other residents on a street know it is senior citizens who aren't able to clear their walks, usually other residents will mobilize to help keep those walks clean rather than lodging a complaint, or if the families of those seniors are aware of the by-law they are generally willing to hire someone to come and do the shovelling.
Mind you, that sort of action may not be taken here. To clear someone else's walk out of the sheer goodness of heart on the part of a third party would imply, once again, that people in Regina actually have a concern for people other than themselves and after living here for the past three years, watching the actions of our city council members and others, the appalling racism that seems to pervade this city and the self-absorption masquerading as rural practicality, I am wondering if such caring is too often the exception for Regina rather than the rule.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Monday, February 26, 2018
So Far, So Good, YES!
While I have been conscious of my body trying to fight off an infection similar to my husband's respiratory infection, my body thus far IS fighting it off with the help of a few over the counter meds and going to bed early at night for long sleeps. Hopefully I can get rid of this before it blooms into anything debilitating. I have been gargling diligently with the antibacterial mouthwash my dentist gives me after fillings and crowns as it is supposed to help substantially, according to her, with throat infections.
We deliberately had a quiet day around here. My husband worked very hard on his research paper and I did some reading, some computer game playing and spent quite awhile setting up tv shows to record over the next ten days. Checking every sports channel that we get, every hour of every day, has enabled me to locate all the boxing programmes. Sometimes the Canadian HBO channel doesn't show the major matches at the same time as on the American HBO, but in that case the same programme usually does show up at an odd time later on, sometimes on a Wednesday morning.
At 3pm we set out to do our few away from home chores for today. My husband had to go to the bank to get his personal address changed. His new bank card was sent to our former town of residence and got there sometime last November. Since that parish had no priest at the time, the card sat in the mail at the rectory for a couple of months before someone saw it, realized it might be important and forwarded it. Since his old card expires in about 48 hours, it was fantastic that someone did send it on. Done and done! Then we headed downtown to the library so my husband could return a book, then farther north we drove to pick up some fresh water jugs at Custom Water, then over to the east of there to pick up fresh pitas at the Syrian bakery, back south to give the car a good washing (and OOOOH, did I ever drive carefully around the other drivers after that to try to keep us from getting as splashed and muddy as we were before washing it), then back across to the west to Nicky's Cafe so we could use a ten dollar off coupon for dinner before it expires. hahahaha Not that we are cheap or anything....oh no, not us....hahahaha.
Dinner at Nicky's is like stepping back into the 1970's. The decor is...interesting....and the food is just the way today's grandparents like it: carrots cooked to mush and the mashed potato served up in the shape of an ice cream scoop. hahaha HOWEVER, the flavours are excellent. The prices are incredibly reasonable for the amount of food, that is for sure. Our meals came with soup or salad so I had the corn chowder and my husband had the lentil. Both of them were excellent and just the right amount...it was like eating small bowls of stew rather than soup, so thick were the veggies. Accompanying the soup bowls was a plate with two VERY thick slices of garlic toast. The bread was almost as fresh as the Japanese "Texas toast" slices we used to buy in Tokyo. Yummy! We ordered steaks, medium rare. They were actually medium rare when we got them. They were cooked just perfectly and for a change I actually received a steak that was far more meat than fat!!! I have had the most horrible steaks ever in this city for some reason. I am glad I risked ordering steak tonight. My peppercorn steak was slathered in fried half mushrooms and onions and the sauce had not been thickened, so it wasn't like eating glue on top of the meat. There was minimal gravy on the potatoes so my plate was not swimming in liquid. The steak and potatoes more than made up for the mushy carrots, and to be fair they did have good flavour. At the cash register there are always fresh cinnamon buns for sale, so we purchased one for ourselves and several for the office for my husband to take the staff tomorrow for a treat. I am glad we went.
Now my husband is watching the last of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." He watched quite a few movies during his two sick days last week. It was so good to see him finally relaxed enough to spend several hours a day mindlessly watching tv. He accomplished a lot on his study leave days and did home chores on his two day off. He feels great and is actually looking forward to returning to work tomorrow. The last of his cold is still hanging on, but he is nearly over it.
Wow, I am going to miss my husband's presence when he returns to work. He spent so much of our marriage working away from home until recent years that I have a much greater appreciation for our time together than I may have had otherwise.
Another good day...the disappointments of the weekend have faded away and life continues.
We deliberately had a quiet day around here. My husband worked very hard on his research paper and I did some reading, some computer game playing and spent quite awhile setting up tv shows to record over the next ten days. Checking every sports channel that we get, every hour of every day, has enabled me to locate all the boxing programmes. Sometimes the Canadian HBO channel doesn't show the major matches at the same time as on the American HBO, but in that case the same programme usually does show up at an odd time later on, sometimes on a Wednesday morning.
At 3pm we set out to do our few away from home chores for today. My husband had to go to the bank to get his personal address changed. His new bank card was sent to our former town of residence and got there sometime last November. Since that parish had no priest at the time, the card sat in the mail at the rectory for a couple of months before someone saw it, realized it might be important and forwarded it. Since his old card expires in about 48 hours, it was fantastic that someone did send it on. Done and done! Then we headed downtown to the library so my husband could return a book, then farther north we drove to pick up some fresh water jugs at Custom Water, then over to the east of there to pick up fresh pitas at the Syrian bakery, back south to give the car a good washing (and OOOOH, did I ever drive carefully around the other drivers after that to try to keep us from getting as splashed and muddy as we were before washing it), then back across to the west to Nicky's Cafe so we could use a ten dollar off coupon for dinner before it expires. hahahaha Not that we are cheap or anything....oh no, not us....hahahaha.
Dinner at Nicky's is like stepping back into the 1970's. The decor is...interesting....and the food is just the way today's grandparents like it: carrots cooked to mush and the mashed potato served up in the shape of an ice cream scoop. hahaha HOWEVER, the flavours are excellent. The prices are incredibly reasonable for the amount of food, that is for sure. Our meals came with soup or salad so I had the corn chowder and my husband had the lentil. Both of them were excellent and just the right amount...it was like eating small bowls of stew rather than soup, so thick were the veggies. Accompanying the soup bowls was a plate with two VERY thick slices of garlic toast. The bread was almost as fresh as the Japanese "Texas toast" slices we used to buy in Tokyo. Yummy! We ordered steaks, medium rare. They were actually medium rare when we got them. They were cooked just perfectly and for a change I actually received a steak that was far more meat than fat!!! I have had the most horrible steaks ever in this city for some reason. I am glad I risked ordering steak tonight. My peppercorn steak was slathered in fried half mushrooms and onions and the sauce had not been thickened, so it wasn't like eating glue on top of the meat. There was minimal gravy on the potatoes so my plate was not swimming in liquid. The steak and potatoes more than made up for the mushy carrots, and to be fair they did have good flavour. At the cash register there are always fresh cinnamon buns for sale, so we purchased one for ourselves and several for the office for my husband to take the staff tomorrow for a treat. I am glad we went.
Now my husband is watching the last of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." He watched quite a few movies during his two sick days last week. It was so good to see him finally relaxed enough to spend several hours a day mindlessly watching tv. He accomplished a lot on his study leave days and did home chores on his two day off. He feels great and is actually looking forward to returning to work tomorrow. The last of his cold is still hanging on, but he is nearly over it.
Wow, I am going to miss my husband's presence when he returns to work. He spent so much of our marriage working away from home until recent years that I have a much greater appreciation for our time together than I may have had otherwise.
Another good day...the disappointments of the weekend have faded away and life continues.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Aaaaand Just Like That (Insert Finger Snap Here) The Morning's Disappointments Come to an End
I sometimes have a picture in my head of God banging his head against a wall, pointing at me and saying, "SEE, what did I TELL you about trustng me???? What did I TELL you????"
I suspect he may have been doing that earlier this morning when I was so very disappointed about having to cancel our church visit plans.
Just after 11am our son texted to say he was just making a cup of tea and could he give us a call when he sat down to drink it. He did call and we chattered happily for an hour! Hmmmm....had we been at church when he contacted us my cell would have been shut off and we wouldn't have known he was trying. Had we gone for lunch after church, even if we found his texts on my phone by then, he would have been long gone on his own day's errands by the time we arrived home to call him. Sigh...will I EVER learn to trust God with the tiny details of life and not just with the huge issues??
Short version: by the time we were done talking we had confirmed an apartment hotel reservation for ourselves in Brooklyn for the middle of June for a whole week. If all continues as planned by then, we will be visitng our son at his new home base. His excitement that we are going to come to see him there was most encouraging and very lovely. We won't book our air fares or other things until closer to the time, just in case things change for any of us by then, but we have free cancellation on our accommodation up to 3 days before arrival. It is all good!!!
Our son is flying back to Vancouver toward the end of March to do some business and pack up some canvasses to take back to New York with him. He has made some good contacts there who wish to see more of his work so he needs a more complete oeuvre to display. He is meeting with his former director at a gallery they were both at for a number of years, in order to plan a joint curation project at the Richmond Art Gallery taking place later in the autumn. They found an amazing artist who has been living and painting his canvasses in Richmond for 45 years and has never had a show. What a find!!
Our son's girlfriend just got an unexpected job in the city of her dreams, Paris France. She is shocked as she applied on a whim, but it is hers and she starts in a few weeks' time. They talked together and decided there is no point in continuing any kind of romantic relationship from so long a distance away but they are good friends and will continue to be. Our son, after the horrendous, years long, fiasco he experienced in his last long term relationship, has at least started dating again, but seems to be deliberately picking relationships he knows in advance will not amount to much. The wounding is deep. We are relieved though that he is at least dating again after being very alone for a couple of years or more.
So, that's the end of my Mommy Noises for this post. hahaha
I think I am going to get dressed now that it is nearly 2pm and brave the Sunday afternoon grocery store crowds. If I am coming down with the cold and throat infection my husband has, I don't want to risk waiting until tomorrow to get the food shopping done. Today I still feel well. It is so sunny and only -6C. How could I want to miss being out and about on such a lovely day? The ice on the main streets has been melted by the traffic. Yup, I need a break out of this place for awhile! Time to go!
I suspect he may have been doing that earlier this morning when I was so very disappointed about having to cancel our church visit plans.
Just after 11am our son texted to say he was just making a cup of tea and could he give us a call when he sat down to drink it. He did call and we chattered happily for an hour! Hmmmm....had we been at church when he contacted us my cell would have been shut off and we wouldn't have known he was trying. Had we gone for lunch after church, even if we found his texts on my phone by then, he would have been long gone on his own day's errands by the time we arrived home to call him. Sigh...will I EVER learn to trust God with the tiny details of life and not just with the huge issues??
Short version: by the time we were done talking we had confirmed an apartment hotel reservation for ourselves in Brooklyn for the middle of June for a whole week. If all continues as planned by then, we will be visitng our son at his new home base. His excitement that we are going to come to see him there was most encouraging and very lovely. We won't book our air fares or other things until closer to the time, just in case things change for any of us by then, but we have free cancellation on our accommodation up to 3 days before arrival. It is all good!!!
Our son is flying back to Vancouver toward the end of March to do some business and pack up some canvasses to take back to New York with him. He has made some good contacts there who wish to see more of his work so he needs a more complete oeuvre to display. He is meeting with his former director at a gallery they were both at for a number of years, in order to plan a joint curation project at the Richmond Art Gallery taking place later in the autumn. They found an amazing artist who has been living and painting his canvasses in Richmond for 45 years and has never had a show. What a find!!
Our son's girlfriend just got an unexpected job in the city of her dreams, Paris France. She is shocked as she applied on a whim, but it is hers and she starts in a few weeks' time. They talked together and decided there is no point in continuing any kind of romantic relationship from so long a distance away but they are good friends and will continue to be. Our son, after the horrendous, years long, fiasco he experienced in his last long term relationship, has at least started dating again, but seems to be deliberately picking relationships he knows in advance will not amount to much. The wounding is deep. We are relieved though that he is at least dating again after being very alone for a couple of years or more.
So, that's the end of my Mommy Noises for this post. hahaha
I think I am going to get dressed now that it is nearly 2pm and brave the Sunday afternoon grocery store crowds. If I am coming down with the cold and throat infection my husband has, I don't want to risk waiting until tomorrow to get the food shopping done. Today I still feel well. It is so sunny and only -6C. How could I want to miss being out and about on such a lovely day? The ice on the main streets has been melted by the traffic. Yup, I need a break out of this place for awhile! Time to go!
One Of Those Confusing At Sea Kind of Weekends (EXCEPT for Good News from Cee)
I can stand a day of plans being up in the air, or having to change, or experiencing some sort of disappointment over cancellations, but this weekend has been absolutely annoying!!
My husband has had an entire week like that. What was supposed to be his study week in Alberta had to be changed to a study week at home due to his cold. However, the week turned into mostly a week of sick leave and unexpected office work and home computer/small appliance repair etc. Basically he accomplished everything else except studying and course writing. He was even more disappointed when he found out that an old friend and fellow colleague had himself been at the same library in Calgary last week that my husband would have been studying at and they could have taken some time to visit.
Late Friday afternoon, after a day of computer related errands, my husband got a call from a friend who lives in Alberta. The fellow had just flown a small plane into Regina that someone is buying from him and wanted my husband to pick him up at the airport for a bit of dinner. I was pleased for my husband as this is a friend of many decades standing and they don't get to see each other much any more.
My husband was barely out the door when the phone rang. A friend with a ticket to our Anglican weekend seminar with composer/song writer Steve Bell had an emergency and would be unable to attend. Would I like to use her ticket? Well, HECK YES!!! I would have loved to, but my husband had driven off without his cell phone and I wouldn't be able to reach him to ask if he could have the car back in time for me to go. Our friend normally stays overnight when he flies planes out here and I needed to get a space set up for him to sleep. So I would need to be here in the morning as well and miss out on the daytime seminar. I thought for a minute and then reluctantly told my friend she would have to find someone else to go. As it turned out my husband returned the car just in time for me to have gone to the evening concert, plus our friend decided not to stay overnight after all and hopped onto a commercial flight home. I could have gone to the Saturday seminar as well as the concert. Guess it wasn't meant to be.
Then my total sleep time between Friday evening and Saturday breakfast turned out to be 2 hours and 10 minutes. I was so tired all day yesterday that I even cancelled my grocery shopping plans. We had considered going out for lunch to ensure we both got out of the suite for awhile, but my husband had a bit of a relapse on his cough and I didn't care if I went or not. We schlepped away the entire day at home and I don't think either of us accomplished squat because we kept dozing off. Before we went to bed that night we made a firm plan to visit one of two churches on our visiting list because the service didn't start until 10:30am, giving us time to sleep in. We would go out for lunch afterward. As I was heading off to bed last night my throat started filling up and my sinuses were stuffy, so I slathered my nose, neck and chest with Vick's VapoRub, gave myself a blast of both Otrovin and Vick's MentholStick, wrapped up in two warm winter quilts and slept soundly until nearly 8am. Woke up feeling well, no cold symptoms and although my husband didn't wake up until nearly 9am we still had lots of time to go to church. We had picked out a favourite spot to eat our noon meal and I was excited about the morning. By the time he woke up I had my makeup on, hair done and dress clothes waiting to be put on.
Sooooooo, my dear husband sat up in bed and said he finally had a decent sleep, felt mentally more aware than he had in a week, and that his mind was filled finally with ideas to write up for his course. It was obviously time to get going on his writing for the next couple of days after waiting more than a week to feel up to doing it. So, if I didn't mind he would stay home this morning and work. I thought about visiting that church by myself, decided I didn't want to go alone, washed off my make up, hung up my clothes and pulled out the ironing board to get yesterday's laundry taken care of. Sigh..... I made my own executive decision to also skip the lunch out. If we went my husband would be going out of guilt for shutting down our church visit and leaving me disappointed once all ready today. He doesn't understand that I don't blame him for my being disappointed in the way things have worked out. One reason I opted not to go either is because we had some very wet snow last night and the streets are still frozen this morning. It isn't fun to go out skating about in a vehicle on the busy streets surrounding the church we were going to visit.
Now my ironing is done and I am blogging. In a few minutes I am going to cook up some chicken breasts for lunch and dinner today. I had to purchase a new grilling pan the other day because the finish on my old one is starting to peel. This new pan is bigger too so I won't have to cut the chicken into small pieces to get the whole pack wedged into the pan at the same time.
Not sure how the rest of the day is going to work out for me. I am glad my husband is finally able to get a couple of days of study and writing done out of the five to seven days he was booked off work for that purpose. His cold is definitely getting better but it looks like mine MAY just be starting. My throat has started bothering me again just in the last few minutes. If I DO end up with this cold it means I will have to drop my committment to singing in the Easter Seasonal Choir. That will be a huge disappointment!! Honestly, I am getting extremely tired of starting off on committments and then having to cancel them for one reason or another. Such things have been going regularly for the past year. Enough all ready!!!! 😡
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Now the good news from Cee: on Friday he began a medication that, over the past couple of days has removed many of the painful symptoms of whatever it is that is causing him to be so ill. The change since Friday in his symptom levels is nothing short of miraculous and so we pray that doesn't change as he is on the most minimal dose and it would be nice not to have to increase it. If these symptoms remain under control due to this medication it should help the next couple of specialists he is getting set up to see to figure out what tests he needs next to diagnose the root problem. O Lord, may it be!!!! 🙏
My husband has had an entire week like that. What was supposed to be his study week in Alberta had to be changed to a study week at home due to his cold. However, the week turned into mostly a week of sick leave and unexpected office work and home computer/small appliance repair etc. Basically he accomplished everything else except studying and course writing. He was even more disappointed when he found out that an old friend and fellow colleague had himself been at the same library in Calgary last week that my husband would have been studying at and they could have taken some time to visit.
Late Friday afternoon, after a day of computer related errands, my husband got a call from a friend who lives in Alberta. The fellow had just flown a small plane into Regina that someone is buying from him and wanted my husband to pick him up at the airport for a bit of dinner. I was pleased for my husband as this is a friend of many decades standing and they don't get to see each other much any more.
My husband was barely out the door when the phone rang. A friend with a ticket to our Anglican weekend seminar with composer/song writer Steve Bell had an emergency and would be unable to attend. Would I like to use her ticket? Well, HECK YES!!! I would have loved to, but my husband had driven off without his cell phone and I wouldn't be able to reach him to ask if he could have the car back in time for me to go. Our friend normally stays overnight when he flies planes out here and I needed to get a space set up for him to sleep. So I would need to be here in the morning as well and miss out on the daytime seminar. I thought for a minute and then reluctantly told my friend she would have to find someone else to go. As it turned out my husband returned the car just in time for me to have gone to the evening concert, plus our friend decided not to stay overnight after all and hopped onto a commercial flight home. I could have gone to the Saturday seminar as well as the concert. Guess it wasn't meant to be.
Then my total sleep time between Friday evening and Saturday breakfast turned out to be 2 hours and 10 minutes. I was so tired all day yesterday that I even cancelled my grocery shopping plans. We had considered going out for lunch to ensure we both got out of the suite for awhile, but my husband had a bit of a relapse on his cough and I didn't care if I went or not. We schlepped away the entire day at home and I don't think either of us accomplished squat because we kept dozing off. Before we went to bed that night we made a firm plan to visit one of two churches on our visiting list because the service didn't start until 10:30am, giving us time to sleep in. We would go out for lunch afterward. As I was heading off to bed last night my throat started filling up and my sinuses were stuffy, so I slathered my nose, neck and chest with Vick's VapoRub, gave myself a blast of both Otrovin and Vick's MentholStick, wrapped up in two warm winter quilts and slept soundly until nearly 8am. Woke up feeling well, no cold symptoms and although my husband didn't wake up until nearly 9am we still had lots of time to go to church. We had picked out a favourite spot to eat our noon meal and I was excited about the morning. By the time he woke up I had my makeup on, hair done and dress clothes waiting to be put on.
Sooooooo, my dear husband sat up in bed and said he finally had a decent sleep, felt mentally more aware than he had in a week, and that his mind was filled finally with ideas to write up for his course. It was obviously time to get going on his writing for the next couple of days after waiting more than a week to feel up to doing it. So, if I didn't mind he would stay home this morning and work. I thought about visiting that church by myself, decided I didn't want to go alone, washed off my make up, hung up my clothes and pulled out the ironing board to get yesterday's laundry taken care of. Sigh..... I made my own executive decision to also skip the lunch out. If we went my husband would be going out of guilt for shutting down our church visit and leaving me disappointed once all ready today. He doesn't understand that I don't blame him for my being disappointed in the way things have worked out. One reason I opted not to go either is because we had some very wet snow last night and the streets are still frozen this morning. It isn't fun to go out skating about in a vehicle on the busy streets surrounding the church we were going to visit.
Now my ironing is done and I am blogging. In a few minutes I am going to cook up some chicken breasts for lunch and dinner today. I had to purchase a new grilling pan the other day because the finish on my old one is starting to peel. This new pan is bigger too so I won't have to cut the chicken into small pieces to get the whole pack wedged into the pan at the same time.
Not sure how the rest of the day is going to work out for me. I am glad my husband is finally able to get a couple of days of study and writing done out of the five to seven days he was booked off work for that purpose. His cold is definitely getting better but it looks like mine MAY just be starting. My throat has started bothering me again just in the last few minutes. If I DO end up with this cold it means I will have to drop my committment to singing in the Easter Seasonal Choir. That will be a huge disappointment!! Honestly, I am getting extremely tired of starting off on committments and then having to cancel them for one reason or another. Such things have been going regularly for the past year. Enough all ready!!!! 😡
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now the good news from Cee: on Friday he began a medication that, over the past couple of days has removed many of the painful symptoms of whatever it is that is causing him to be so ill. The change since Friday in his symptom levels is nothing short of miraculous and so we pray that doesn't change as he is on the most minimal dose and it would be nice not to have to increase it. If these symptoms remain under control due to this medication it should help the next couple of specialists he is getting set up to see to figure out what tests he needs next to diagnose the root problem. O Lord, may it be!!!! 🙏
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Speaking of Cultural Appropriation.....
.....how is it that my country’s Prime Minister and his family can spend a trip to India traipsing around in full Indian garb, hands folded as they “Namaste” themselves around the place, but if I was to dress up in the same native Indian garb here, I could find myself in a court of law being charged for said “cultural appropriation “ instead of being congratulated for wanting to honour the people of another culture?
Does anyone in this country know how to spell “hypocrisy”?
How about “fear of reprisal”?
How about “sheer insanity”?
How about “my country is going to hell in a hand basket”?
Any Scripps spelling bee champions out there who could be of assistance?
Does anyone in this country know how to spell “hypocrisy”?
How about “fear of reprisal”?
How about “sheer insanity”?
How about “my country is going to hell in a hand basket”?
Any Scripps spelling bee champions out there who could be of assistance?
Drat! Why Am I Not Sleeping?
Last night I got cozy in my comfy bed, read for a few minutes, turned out the light at 10:38pm and fell instantly asleep. As I lost consciousness I felt enveloped by my warm quilts and soft pillows...niiiiiice!
I woke up for no discernible at 12:38am and it is now 5:38am. I have not slept at all in the past five hours. I am most annoyed 😠!!!!!
There are no worries plaguing me. I am not depressed. There are neither exciting nor dreaded plans for the near future running through my mind. I am not hungry. There aren’t any new pressing prayer requests from others requiring this many hours of intercessory prayer. In fact, so few prayer requests have come to mind I spent most of the last five hours reading an entire (and entirely forgettable) novel!
All I can think of is that perhaps I am coming down with the same respiratory infection my husband has nearly recovered from. NO! NO! NO! Please, let it not be because a cold is coming on, not right now.
A cold.
CRAP!
CRAPPY CRAP!
CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!
Please let me be wrong in my assumption.....please, please, please.....
I woke up for no discernible at 12:38am and it is now 5:38am. I have not slept at all in the past five hours. I am most annoyed 😠!!!!!
There are no worries plaguing me. I am not depressed. There are neither exciting nor dreaded plans for the near future running through my mind. I am not hungry. There aren’t any new pressing prayer requests from others requiring this many hours of intercessory prayer. In fact, so few prayer requests have come to mind I spent most of the last five hours reading an entire (and entirely forgettable) novel!
All I can think of is that perhaps I am coming down with the same respiratory infection my husband has nearly recovered from. NO! NO! NO! Please, let it not be because a cold is coming on, not right now.
A cold.
CRAP!
CRAPPY CRAP!
CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!
Please let me be wrong in my assumption.....please, please, please.....
Friday, February 23, 2018
I Guess We Must Be Giving Up Home Cooking For Lent!!
Yeah...so much for sodium and cholesterol reduced meals!! Hohohoho!!! NOT TODAY!
We had to make a run to the Battery Depot around noon today so we could get new batteries for our backup system for the computers. The whole system went down a few weeks ago but my husband wasn't able to get up there for replacement batteries until today. Fortunately they had exactly what he needed, so he is happily taking some time out between study books to restore the system. YAY! It has been a very odd feeling, using the computers knowing there is no back up if the power was to fail. I am relieved it is being attended to at last.
We also stopped in at the Honda dealership to get the code for resetting our vehicle clock as the card with the code on it went missing at some point before we purchased it. They are so accommodating at the Honda dealership here, despite being so ridiculously busy as to be almost unbelieveable. It is "crazy town" in there!!
SOOOOOOO...in the past week we have recommended the luncheon menu at Vintage Tea Room to three different sets of friends, so my husband decided it was only right that we eat a late luncheon there today to make sure we have not been leading our dear friends astray!! teehee 😉
Oh my.....it was SOOOOOOOO OOOOO OOOOO tasty!!!
My husband had bangers and mash with onion gravy and the best mushy peas I have sneaked off anyone's plate (when they weren't looking of course) in a very long time. He was delighted and ate every scrumptious bite!
I ordered the half pork pie with a side of split pea and ham soup. O boy...there is no other split pea soup I have eaten that was as tasty as this small bowl of yummy-ness!! The touch of anise added to the peas, ham and bits of carrot and onion, gave the flavour quite a marvellous boost beyond the usual overpowering sodium flavour I have come to associate with most split pea and ham soup attempts. The half pork pie was fantastic...thin pastry STUFFED with pork and onion and with the side of chutney it was pretty awesome for flavour. It was a hearty lunch, but neither the soup nor the pork pie were overwhelming in size. Perfect.
The overwhelming for size portion of the meal was the slice of sticky ginger cake we ordered for dessert...thank goodness we only ordered the one so we could share it. It was such a large piece, slathered in rum sauce and with a large dollop of real whipped cream on top. I am sure I was well over my noontime carbohydrate count by the time we were done eating, but the exercise I have had since should help wear off the sugars a bit. Supper is going to be a small sandwich for the two of us to share as our lunch was actually dinner sized!
My husband ordered a pot of the Windsor tea that he quite enjoyed and I had my usual Cream Earl Grey. Yes!!!
We got into a bit of a teasing match with a Scottish fellow and his wife and friends who were sitting at the table beside us and that made for an even more fun time. He teased my husband about trying a taste of my soup with his itty bitty teaspoon, he teased me about missing my chance for a second meal when the server accidentally brought someone else's wonderful looking egg salad sandwiches to our table. And on it went....haha. Spontaneous conversations with complete strangers in restaurants seems to happen too rarely, so it was quite a treat to have some laughs with these folk.
The sun is shining, it is warming up outside. If there is any truth to the 14 day forecast it is possible that when we unplugged our car this afternoon, it marked the last time we have to use the power to heat the battery until next winter. Let's hope...right??
Yup, my husband is home, we did chores together, we ate lunch out together, (AND purchased some of the Welsh tea cakes and ginger cookies sold at Vintage that are so much like my own dear mum's; some orange whiskey marmalade too.), we laughed and had a great time together. There are a lot of things about retirement that are starting to appeal to me...spending more time with my husband being chief among them!
We had to make a run to the Battery Depot around noon today so we could get new batteries for our backup system for the computers. The whole system went down a few weeks ago but my husband wasn't able to get up there for replacement batteries until today. Fortunately they had exactly what he needed, so he is happily taking some time out between study books to restore the system. YAY! It has been a very odd feeling, using the computers knowing there is no back up if the power was to fail. I am relieved it is being attended to at last.
We also stopped in at the Honda dealership to get the code for resetting our vehicle clock as the card with the code on it went missing at some point before we purchased it. They are so accommodating at the Honda dealership here, despite being so ridiculously busy as to be almost unbelieveable. It is "crazy town" in there!!
SOOOOOOO...in the past week we have recommended the luncheon menu at Vintage Tea Room to three different sets of friends, so my husband decided it was only right that we eat a late luncheon there today to make sure we have not been leading our dear friends astray!! teehee 😉
Oh my.....it was SOOOOOOOO OOOOO OOOOO tasty!!!
My husband had bangers and mash with onion gravy and the best mushy peas I have sneaked off anyone's plate (when they weren't looking of course) in a very long time. He was delighted and ate every scrumptious bite!
I ordered the half pork pie with a side of split pea and ham soup. O boy...there is no other split pea soup I have eaten that was as tasty as this small bowl of yummy-ness!! The touch of anise added to the peas, ham and bits of carrot and onion, gave the flavour quite a marvellous boost beyond the usual overpowering sodium flavour I have come to associate with most split pea and ham soup attempts. The half pork pie was fantastic...thin pastry STUFFED with pork and onion and with the side of chutney it was pretty awesome for flavour. It was a hearty lunch, but neither the soup nor the pork pie were overwhelming in size. Perfect.
The overwhelming for size portion of the meal was the slice of sticky ginger cake we ordered for dessert...thank goodness we only ordered the one so we could share it. It was such a large piece, slathered in rum sauce and with a large dollop of real whipped cream on top. I am sure I was well over my noontime carbohydrate count by the time we were done eating, but the exercise I have had since should help wear off the sugars a bit. Supper is going to be a small sandwich for the two of us to share as our lunch was actually dinner sized!
My husband ordered a pot of the Windsor tea that he quite enjoyed and I had my usual Cream Earl Grey. Yes!!!
We got into a bit of a teasing match with a Scottish fellow and his wife and friends who were sitting at the table beside us and that made for an even more fun time. He teased my husband about trying a taste of my soup with his itty bitty teaspoon, he teased me about missing my chance for a second meal when the server accidentally brought someone else's wonderful looking egg salad sandwiches to our table. And on it went....haha. Spontaneous conversations with complete strangers in restaurants seems to happen too rarely, so it was quite a treat to have some laughs with these folk.
The sun is shining, it is warming up outside. If there is any truth to the 14 day forecast it is possible that when we unplugged our car this afternoon, it marked the last time we have to use the power to heat the battery until next winter. Let's hope...right??
Yup, my husband is home, we did chores together, we ate lunch out together, (AND purchased some of the Welsh tea cakes and ginger cookies sold at Vintage that are so much like my own dear mum's; some orange whiskey marmalade too.), we laughed and had a great time together. There are a lot of things about retirement that are starting to appeal to me...spending more time with my husband being chief among them!
Some Good News from Cee:
The test results came in this morning for the bone scan and some other tests Cee had this week: the bone scan is completely clear and the ultrasound is as well. The idea that it could be bone cancer was a new one that was suggested by a wonderful doctor a few days ago and it scared the beejeepers out of us all, but it turns out his problem is not bone cancer. Oooh, thank you God!
The other good news is that the GP in this case IS going to refer Cee to a specialist who apparently is the best internist in the province, so please pray he can get in sooner rather than later.
There are still a couple of outstanding test results to come in, so we hope they will either show something specific or nothing at all, at least nothing to further cloud the all ready muddy waters as to what Cee's problem actually is.
Today I felt a ray of hope for Cee that I haven't truly had for awhile. As other possibilities are eliminated, surely he is closer to finding out why he is ill than he has been in many a month.
Thanks again everyone for your prayers. They have brought so much comfort and peace to the family. Just knowing there are people, even complete strangers, who care enough to petition God on their behalf holds its own comfort.
The other good news is that the GP in this case IS going to refer Cee to a specialist who apparently is the best internist in the province, so please pray he can get in sooner rather than later.
There are still a couple of outstanding test results to come in, so we hope they will either show something specific or nothing at all, at least nothing to further cloud the all ready muddy waters as to what Cee's problem actually is.
Today I felt a ray of hope for Cee that I haven't truly had for awhile. As other possibilities are eliminated, surely he is closer to finding out why he is ill than he has been in many a month.
Thanks again everyone for your prayers. They have brought so much comfort and peace to the family. Just knowing there are people, even complete strangers, who care enough to petition God on their behalf holds its own comfort.
Post-Prandial Exercise Routine
Some of you have been asking me, particularly those of you who have visited me here at home, how I manage to do up to an hour's worth of exercise twice a day in this small space.
So, here is my routine:
As soon as a meal is over I get up from the table, (Or couch, since now that I am an adult I get to eat in front of the tv without getting in trouble with my parents!), load the dishwasher and wash the remaining dishes by hand, even if there are only a few items.
Then I go around the corner from the kitchen into the L-shaped dining room/living room space and turn on the tv. I stand beside the sofa once I find a programme to watch and start walking up and down on the spot. At the beginning of the first commercial break, I walk up and down the flight of stairs to the bedrooms as many times as I can until the commercial break is over. How many times I can do it depends on how tired and sore I happen to be at the time, but I am trying to increase my reps, particularly after dinner when my blood sugar tends to get to its highest levels of the day, but if I have more energy after lunch I cram in as many reps as possible then too.
Once the commercial break is over and the programme comes back on I go back to walking on the spot, but change my pace to marching instead, being careful to lift my knees high but not slam my feet down onto the carpet while I am marching. Gentle marching is best for me. During the next commercial break I either return to stair climbing if I am not too exhausted from the last round and fill that break with climbs, or else march more quickly.
When the programme returns I go back to my spot and jog up and down on the spot for as many minutes as I am able while waiting for the next commercial break. If I can only jog for 3-5 minutes, that is okay because I just go back to marching once I peter out aerobically. (Pant, pant, wheeze!!)
At the beginning of the next and all subsequent commercial breaks I quick-walk around the L-shaped dining/living room space, dodging the dining room table and chairs, the couch and coffee table and other assorted furniture. I have things arranged so there is a clear, if short, figure eight pathway around the furniture. It works well for me.
So, basically, while the programme is on I walk, march or jog in place. During the commercial breaks I am either stair climbing or quick walking around the downstairs.
If I am watching a recorded programme I simply allow the commercial breaks to play through instead of fast forwarding through them.
Depending on my energy level I can keep this up for between 30 and 60 minutes after lunch and again after dinner. 30 minutes is my minimum time. If we happen to have company they just have to be understanding while I march up and down on the spot for half an hour while we visit after a meal. Usually they are...or at least they are not obviously freaked out by it and are only rarely condescending or embarrassed. hahaha
I give myself a break one day a week, usually Sundays because we are often on the road for the day travelling to rural parishes and I simply don't have the time or space available to exercise, but for at least the weekdays at home I am very strict about being so disciplined. Unfortunately, daily post-prandial exercise is not an option for me if I want to stay off diabetes meds for awhile longer.
Next week I am going to start incorporating the basement stairs into my stair climbing routine. I am doing well enough now on just the one filght that it is time to up the ante and be climbing both staircases now during those commercial breaks.
So, hope that answers the questions. When you have a very small space to work with and are my age, you just have to be more creative than when you have the opportunity in winter to go and walk the indoor malls after a meal, or go skiing or skating out of doors.
All I know is that this little routine is helping me out a lot. Thanks for asking. 😀
So, here is my routine:
As soon as a meal is over I get up from the table, (Or couch, since now that I am an adult I get to eat in front of the tv without getting in trouble with my parents!), load the dishwasher and wash the remaining dishes by hand, even if there are only a few items.
Then I go around the corner from the kitchen into the L-shaped dining room/living room space and turn on the tv. I stand beside the sofa once I find a programme to watch and start walking up and down on the spot. At the beginning of the first commercial break, I walk up and down the flight of stairs to the bedrooms as many times as I can until the commercial break is over. How many times I can do it depends on how tired and sore I happen to be at the time, but I am trying to increase my reps, particularly after dinner when my blood sugar tends to get to its highest levels of the day, but if I have more energy after lunch I cram in as many reps as possible then too.
Once the commercial break is over and the programme comes back on I go back to walking on the spot, but change my pace to marching instead, being careful to lift my knees high but not slam my feet down onto the carpet while I am marching. Gentle marching is best for me. During the next commercial break I either return to stair climbing if I am not too exhausted from the last round and fill that break with climbs, or else march more quickly.
When the programme returns I go back to my spot and jog up and down on the spot for as many minutes as I am able while waiting for the next commercial break. If I can only jog for 3-5 minutes, that is okay because I just go back to marching once I peter out aerobically. (Pant, pant, wheeze!!)
At the beginning of the next and all subsequent commercial breaks I quick-walk around the L-shaped dining/living room space, dodging the dining room table and chairs, the couch and coffee table and other assorted furniture. I have things arranged so there is a clear, if short, figure eight pathway around the furniture. It works well for me.
So, basically, while the programme is on I walk, march or jog in place. During the commercial breaks I am either stair climbing or quick walking around the downstairs.
If I am watching a recorded programme I simply allow the commercial breaks to play through instead of fast forwarding through them.
Depending on my energy level I can keep this up for between 30 and 60 minutes after lunch and again after dinner. 30 minutes is my minimum time. If we happen to have company they just have to be understanding while I march up and down on the spot for half an hour while we visit after a meal. Usually they are...or at least they are not obviously freaked out by it and are only rarely condescending or embarrassed. hahaha
I give myself a break one day a week, usually Sundays because we are often on the road for the day travelling to rural parishes and I simply don't have the time or space available to exercise, but for at least the weekdays at home I am very strict about being so disciplined. Unfortunately, daily post-prandial exercise is not an option for me if I want to stay off diabetes meds for awhile longer.
Next week I am going to start incorporating the basement stairs into my stair climbing routine. I am doing well enough now on just the one filght that it is time to up the ante and be climbing both staircases now during those commercial breaks.
So, hope that answers the questions. When you have a very small space to work with and are my age, you just have to be more creative than when you have the opportunity in winter to go and walk the indoor malls after a meal, or go skiing or skating out of doors.
All I know is that this little routine is helping me out a lot. Thanks for asking. 😀
My Hero.....
....went into work yesterday mid-study leave because a big diocesan wide project needed to be completed and there has been no time. To be late with it would be unfair to all the parishes because they are under a deadline of their own to respond to this project being sent out to them.
My husband spent 11 1/2 hours at the office working with the other staff on that and having a few other meetings. When he finally got home last night for a very late dinner, he still felt he had not contributed enough direction to the rest of the staff, leaving them to muddle through the last of the project as best they could, but with insufficient guidelines. So, after dinner he spent another 90 minutes completing things from here at home and got it all sent in to the office staff for today's mailout.
I wish you could have seen his face when he came trundling down the stairs to the living room from his upstairs office to let me know how good he felt about finally getting caught up on the huge project. He was beaming and grinning from ear to ear. I haven't seen him that pleased for a very long time. Talk about a stress reliever. (for both of us)
Congratulations my dear. Ya' done good!!!! 😇
My husband spent 11 1/2 hours at the office working with the other staff on that and having a few other meetings. When he finally got home last night for a very late dinner, he still felt he had not contributed enough direction to the rest of the staff, leaving them to muddle through the last of the project as best they could, but with insufficient guidelines. So, after dinner he spent another 90 minutes completing things from here at home and got it all sent in to the office staff for today's mailout.
I wish you could have seen his face when he came trundling down the stairs to the living room from his upstairs office to let me know how good he felt about finally getting caught up on the huge project. He was beaming and grinning from ear to ear. I haven't seen him that pleased for a very long time. Talk about a stress reliever. (for both of us)
Congratulations my dear. Ya' done good!!!! 😇
Thursday, February 22, 2018
I Finally Won the Dumb Computer Game!
It has taken me two years, countless hours, two re-starts of the whole game due to computer crashes, and several month or longer frustration breaks, but last night I actually completed my favourite older computer game: Jewel Quest II!!!!! Yippee!
Now I do realize that most other people who actually have the logical and strategical skills for playing computer games could complete the game, every level from start to finish, in a couple of days, but those are not MY skills! Ergo, I am thrilled to have completed the game at all, in any length of time!
Behind the smirk on my husband’s face is the glow of pride in his games challenged wife....it is there...I know it...yes it is...it is definitely there....I think.....
Now I do realize that most other people who actually have the logical and strategical skills for playing computer games could complete the game, every level from start to finish, in a couple of days, but those are not MY skills! Ergo, I am thrilled to have completed the game at all, in any length of time!
Behind the smirk on my husband’s face is the glow of pride in his games challenged wife....it is there...I know it...yes it is...it is definitely there....I think.....
The Old Adage is Usually True
Unless there is a drastic change in the forecast for next week, the month of March is going to arrive with dry, warmer temperatures and give us a boost toward the coming spring. I would be more excited about that change in the weather from our current -27C if the adage about March “coming in like a lamb and going out like a lion” hadn’t proven to be the case more often than not. A lovely first week in March bodes well for wicked storms at the end of the month. I would be much happier if March came IN like a lion so it could go OUT like a lamb, leading us into a peaceful, predictable spring the first week of April. Hmmmm, it will be interesting to see what happens this year. As unpredictable and sometimes frightening in their intensity as spring storms can be on the prairies, they can also be spectacular to watch. We haven’t experienced much in the way of truly spectacular storms here over this winter, so maybe we will have our turn in a few weeks.
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Didn't I Tell Ya'???
I just picked up the last of the groceries I will need between now and pay day. So happy I could use fifty dollars worth of PC Optimum points. It meant I only paid $3.72 out of pocket. That fifty dollars worth of points accummulated just from my other February purchases, so I am quite tickled to get so many "free" items a week before my husband gets paid again. Gasoline at that lot is down to 99.4 cents per litre and it must be going up again tomorrow or Friday if the unusually long lineup of cars on a mid week afternoon awaiting their turn at the pumps is any indication! That crazy PC Optimum points card is saving me a bundle on our groceries. What a nice plan to have.
Rest in Peace, Mr. Graham, Sir
A marvellous man of God passed on into heaven this week: evangelist Billy Graham.
I certainly enjoyed sitting under his revival ministry when I was in my early 20's and it was at one of his meetings that I revived my shattered beliefs in Jesus and began a more orderly and discipled Christian life.
What I most appreciated about Mr. Graham was his ability to relate to people in all walks of life and followers of all faiths. He was well aware of his own failings and toward the end of his life sought forgiveness for sometimes allowing his political views to infringe on his preaching about the Lord. He was not perfect and we all knew it, but so did he.
I also appreciate that he allowed his wife Ruth to follow her own path. She was able to live her own life in the midst of his many world travels and I always admired her for doing just that with no apologies for not standing at his side on every podium just because she was married to him. She had a valid, strong ministry of her very own that helped me as much as her husband's did.
My husband and I will miss your ministry Mr. Graham, but we are grateful for your long life lived to serve God and his church and we are delighted you finally are able to be with your precious Jesus face to face.
I certainly enjoyed sitting under his revival ministry when I was in my early 20's and it was at one of his meetings that I revived my shattered beliefs in Jesus and began a more orderly and discipled Christian life.
What I most appreciated about Mr. Graham was his ability to relate to people in all walks of life and followers of all faiths. He was well aware of his own failings and toward the end of his life sought forgiveness for sometimes allowing his political views to infringe on his preaching about the Lord. He was not perfect and we all knew it, but so did he.
I also appreciate that he allowed his wife Ruth to follow her own path. She was able to live her own life in the midst of his many world travels and I always admired her for doing just that with no apologies for not standing at his side on every podium just because she was married to him. She had a valid, strong ministry of her very own that helped me as much as her husband's did.
My husband and I will miss your ministry Mr. Graham, but we are grateful for your long life lived to serve God and his church and we are delighted you finally are able to be with your precious Jesus face to face.
Cee REALLY Needs Extra Prayers Today! (UPDATED)
I have just been texting back and forth with Cee's wife. O dear Lord, what is going on??
Cee has a very time sensitive medical test here in the city this morning and it is kind of an emergency to get it done NOW! So, of course they left home in plenty of time to arrive at the hospital at the right hour.
As they were leaving their own town they were rear ended by another car....long story and Cee is not in the wrong. Fortunately there were apparently no injuries and the damage to Cee's car is minimal. With this time issue and the length of time it took their local police to arrive at the scene, Cee and his wife were forced to give all their information to the fellow who hit them and a pedestrian witness who agreed to stay to talk to the police and then they had to continue their drive here for the big test.
They should be arriving at the hospital right about now and then Cee's wife is calling back to their local police force to let them know what is going on and why they left. Since damage was minimal to their own car at least and there were no physical injuries, they SHOULD be okay for leaving the scene under the circumstances, but please, PLEASE pray that all is well with the police. Each city has its own local laws added into the provincial ones and so you never can be too sure.
Please pray for understanding by their police force of the necessity of Cee having this test today. The results could very well be a matter of life and death for him and if he was to miss the appointment and have to wait for rescheduling, it could be dire for him. Please pray that no one else involved in the accident takes advantage of their physical absence to suddenly plead an injury that doesn't actually exist.
Thank you and Cee and his wife thank you.
Lord, I don't know what you are doing in their lives, but they really need some extra assistance and assurance from you today. Thank you for your help for them and praise your name, amen.
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Wow, that was a quick response, dear prayer warriors. Thanks for the flurry of emails letting me know you are praying.
Cee had a great response from his local police force. All is well. He has to stop by their offices when he gets back later today. They were most understanding of the entire situation and no one else involved in the accident has tried to pull anything underhanded. Praise God!!
Cee has the rest of the tests this afternoon to complete the cycle. I am hoping he and his wife are not too upset to eat some lunch and try to relax a bit prior to the testing. Having an accident on top of scary tests that could have scary results seems like an awful lot to have to bear today. I know God promises he doesn't push us past the point of what we can handle when we trust him, but wow, some days it seems that way, doesn't it?
So, onward and upward Cee!!
Cee has a very time sensitive medical test here in the city this morning and it is kind of an emergency to get it done NOW! So, of course they left home in plenty of time to arrive at the hospital at the right hour.
As they were leaving their own town they were rear ended by another car....long story and Cee is not in the wrong. Fortunately there were apparently no injuries and the damage to Cee's car is minimal. With this time issue and the length of time it took their local police to arrive at the scene, Cee and his wife were forced to give all their information to the fellow who hit them and a pedestrian witness who agreed to stay to talk to the police and then they had to continue their drive here for the big test.
They should be arriving at the hospital right about now and then Cee's wife is calling back to their local police force to let them know what is going on and why they left. Since damage was minimal to their own car at least and there were no physical injuries, they SHOULD be okay for leaving the scene under the circumstances, but please, PLEASE pray that all is well with the police. Each city has its own local laws added into the provincial ones and so you never can be too sure.
Please pray for understanding by their police force of the necessity of Cee having this test today. The results could very well be a matter of life and death for him and if he was to miss the appointment and have to wait for rescheduling, it could be dire for him. Please pray that no one else involved in the accident takes advantage of their physical absence to suddenly plead an injury that doesn't actually exist.
Thank you and Cee and his wife thank you.
Lord, I don't know what you are doing in their lives, but they really need some extra assistance and assurance from you today. Thank you for your help for them and praise your name, amen.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Wow, that was a quick response, dear prayer warriors. Thanks for the flurry of emails letting me know you are praying.
Cee had a great response from his local police force. All is well. He has to stop by their offices when he gets back later today. They were most understanding of the entire situation and no one else involved in the accident has tried to pull anything underhanded. Praise God!!
Cee has the rest of the tests this afternoon to complete the cycle. I am hoping he and his wife are not too upset to eat some lunch and try to relax a bit prior to the testing. Having an accident on top of scary tests that could have scary results seems like an awful lot to have to bear today. I know God promises he doesn't push us past the point of what we can handle when we trust him, but wow, some days it seems that way, doesn't it?
So, onward and upward Cee!!
Can't You Just Sit Still Sometimes????
Not long ago someone asked me that question. It came about as a result of a friend reading my blog posts and wondering why I can't seem to just spend a few hours, or even a few minutes, during the day reading a book or binge watching tv or having a nap.
The short answer is that no, I can't.
Well....I could I suppose, but for a variety of reasons, I spent over 15 years doing exactly those things on a daily basis: reading books, watching tv, napping. The sitting on my kiester for most of every day was a result of a variety of health issues and dietary disasters, huge contributors to eventually developing the type 2 diabetes I now have. I equate unnecessary sitting around to those unhappy years.
There was a lot of fear and depression involved in all that sitting around, doing nothing useful. There was chronic poverty going on, my husband was trying to get a diagnosis and treatment programme for his CFS, my heart was acting up, I received a diagnosis of lupus that never has developed, to date, into anything seriously troubling, my weight started to soar, the arthritis was taking hold of my hands...it was at least 15 years of confusion and misery and I couldn't seem to fight it, I could only sit around wringing my twisted fingers and burying the upsets in inactivity and sleep. While I was aware of God helping both of us through the rough time that dragged on for so long, I even used my times of prayer as a way to shut down...hiding in my "prayer closet" instead of praying on my feet and getting on with life. O the patience of God toward us when we selfishly use him an excuse to behave badly!!
Now that I am feeling human again, have many of my health issues more or less under control and understand the contribution exercise and physical activity make to being able to have some control over the progression of my diabetes, I can hardly bear any sort of sitting around during the daylight hours. I enjoy taking breaks to blog and to read a few favourite online newsfeeds, but other than that the general plan is to keep moving! I praise God for cordless telephones because I can march around the suite while chatting, instead of sitting on the couch feeling like a blob of lard. Being able to move around all day with minimal to no physical pain is incredibly refreshing, particularly after suffering so many broken bones in the last five years!
My mind seems a little less stagnant as well. I am processing more quickly and effectively...well....a lot of the time anyway, certainly more than previously. hahaha I wish old age was not battling against that small restoration of thought process.
So, no, I don't like to sit around reading books and watching tv in the mornings or afternoons. TV watching is reserved for eveings after dinner when I can watch the tv while doing some post-prandial exercise for my blood sugar. Reading is what I do after I crawl into bed at night so that I can fall asleep feeling relaxed and happy. Reading at bed time is very calming. I love losing myself in someone else's story for awhile so that I don't wake up at 3am so often worrying about my own.
Yup...busy is how I like to be. The activity doesn't have to be at all exciting or even all that worthwhile I suppose. Just keep moving...that is my newest motto and it works well for me.
The short answer is that no, I can't.
Well....I could I suppose, but for a variety of reasons, I spent over 15 years doing exactly those things on a daily basis: reading books, watching tv, napping. The sitting on my kiester for most of every day was a result of a variety of health issues and dietary disasters, huge contributors to eventually developing the type 2 diabetes I now have. I equate unnecessary sitting around to those unhappy years.
There was a lot of fear and depression involved in all that sitting around, doing nothing useful. There was chronic poverty going on, my husband was trying to get a diagnosis and treatment programme for his CFS, my heart was acting up, I received a diagnosis of lupus that never has developed, to date, into anything seriously troubling, my weight started to soar, the arthritis was taking hold of my hands...it was at least 15 years of confusion and misery and I couldn't seem to fight it, I could only sit around wringing my twisted fingers and burying the upsets in inactivity and sleep. While I was aware of God helping both of us through the rough time that dragged on for so long, I even used my times of prayer as a way to shut down...hiding in my "prayer closet" instead of praying on my feet and getting on with life. O the patience of God toward us when we selfishly use him an excuse to behave badly!!
Now that I am feeling human again, have many of my health issues more or less under control and understand the contribution exercise and physical activity make to being able to have some control over the progression of my diabetes, I can hardly bear any sort of sitting around during the daylight hours. I enjoy taking breaks to blog and to read a few favourite online newsfeeds, but other than that the general plan is to keep moving! I praise God for cordless telephones because I can march around the suite while chatting, instead of sitting on the couch feeling like a blob of lard. Being able to move around all day with minimal to no physical pain is incredibly refreshing, particularly after suffering so many broken bones in the last five years!
My mind seems a little less stagnant as well. I am processing more quickly and effectively...well....a lot of the time anyway, certainly more than previously. hahaha I wish old age was not battling against that small restoration of thought process.
So, no, I don't like to sit around reading books and watching tv in the mornings or afternoons. TV watching is reserved for eveings after dinner when I can watch the tv while doing some post-prandial exercise for my blood sugar. Reading is what I do after I crawl into bed at night so that I can fall asleep feeling relaxed and happy. Reading at bed time is very calming. I love losing myself in someone else's story for awhile so that I don't wake up at 3am so often worrying about my own.
Yup...busy is how I like to be. The activity doesn't have to be at all exciting or even all that worthwhile I suppose. Just keep moving...that is my newest motto and it works well for me.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
My One Big Night of Olympics Viewing
I haven't watched that much of the televised Olympics coverage this season. It isn't that I am not interested as always, I just haven't had the time free to spend as I have been enjoying that time visiting and helping out my ill husband.
However, last night was my night! I had fun watching Kevin Koe's curling team playing against the Japanese team and I am pleased our men finally beat another team so definitively, particularly since the Japanese team played very well indeed. I thought Cassie Sharpe was absolutely spectacular with her gold medal win in womens' half pipe competition. WOW! And then of course I so enjoyed watching most of the figure skating medal round dance competition. Moir and Virtue did our Canadian athletic community proud and it is sad to see them leaving world competition. Their performance was fanastic and I could hardly believe anyone could perform better than the French team who took the silver medal. Nice to see we have two more excellent teams coming up in the rankings to lead our ice dancers into future Olympic and Worlds competitions. It was great to see a replay of our two man bobsleigh team tying with the German team for the gold medal, particularly the videos of their shocked faces when they realized they had tied. hahaha Yes, I really enjoyed my Night at the Olympics! I doubt I will get another chance to spend an entire evening in front of the tv before they end next weekend, but I sure had fun last night watching the events. Congratulations to all our athletes who are competing and managing to do so very well coming from a country that doesn't fund its professional athletes to the same extent as some of the others.
All across the country, particularly on the prairies, the rhetoric is heating up over rural property owners and their right to defend themselves again home invasions, vandalism and other rural property crimes, since the Stanley/Boushie trial and its outcome in the courts. The entire issue is difficult enough to deal with but now, of course, the racist card has been played, so the true issues regarding rural crime are in danger of being swept under the carpet while the focus swings onto whites vs aboriginals...again, instead of the fact that the person killed in this situation was committing a crime at the time of his death and that the person who killed him was trying to protect his own property. I have no idea if the killing was actually an accident or murder. I wasn't there and I wasn't in the court room during the trial. I don't know if the person defending his property had a gun go off accidentally or if it was just a horrific accident. I just know that there are many issues here, not just one of race and if we focus only on racism we are going to miss the point of what is needed in making changes to laws surrounding the issues of rural crime and property protection. It is all most disturbing.
My husband is much better today. His cold has subsided substantially over the past 48 hours, he is sleeping well, he was up and eager to get started on some writing immediately after an early breakfast. It is good to see him recovering and anxious to get going on working on this course that means so much to him.
I have no plans for myself today. I was quite tired and out of sorts yesterday after having my meal times and foods so messed up from my regular schedule, so wasn't thinking ahead. Since it is fairly cold again today I may just stay home. I want to purchase a new cover for my duvet and am torn between getting another el cheapo so that I can change it over again in another year or two, or spending the money on an excellent quality cover and having it for the next ten or twenty years. Not a good idea to go shopping until I figure out what is really the best purchase to make. I get bored so easily with "visuals" that I'm not certain that quality is what I am after.
The meat loaf roll is going to have to wait a day or two now. I thawed some chicken yesterday thinking we would be eating it for last night's supper, but my husband wasn't hungry enough for a full meal and my food intake was so messed up I didn't want a big meal either. So, must cook the chicken today!!
Guess I'll see how the day unfolds. Maybe after a hot shower and a hair washing I will feel more motivated to do something useful for the rest of the day!
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Nice....my husband got a call shortly after the first part of this blog post from the company that is putting together his new lap top for him and they required some paper work from him. Between their call and a call he made to a second computer company for another available laptop for his office, we got to go out for a drive around the city late this morning. Despite the cold, it was great to be outside in the sunshine for awhile...AND since computer store number two is right beside the Afghan buffet restaurant...well, guess where we had lunch? teehee My husband has decided our other treat for the week will be lunch out in a day or two at the British tea room. I need to do a carb "fast" for the next day or two to be ready for that one. You can't accuse any of the items on their luncheon menu to be too low in carbohydrates....o my, how on earth am I going to justify a true English meat pie with its wonderful lard filled crust plus a bowl of sticky toffee pudding all in the same meal??? No can do, so have the next couple of days to decide which of the two I will most enjoy. Sigh...decisions, decisions.... (Yes, I know the meat pie SHOULD win the competition, BUT the other choice is STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING!!!! Aiii yiii)
However, last night was my night! I had fun watching Kevin Koe's curling team playing against the Japanese team and I am pleased our men finally beat another team so definitively, particularly since the Japanese team played very well indeed. I thought Cassie Sharpe was absolutely spectacular with her gold medal win in womens' half pipe competition. WOW! And then of course I so enjoyed watching most of the figure skating medal round dance competition. Moir and Virtue did our Canadian athletic community proud and it is sad to see them leaving world competition. Their performance was fanastic and I could hardly believe anyone could perform better than the French team who took the silver medal. Nice to see we have two more excellent teams coming up in the rankings to lead our ice dancers into future Olympic and Worlds competitions. It was great to see a replay of our two man bobsleigh team tying with the German team for the gold medal, particularly the videos of their shocked faces when they realized they had tied. hahaha Yes, I really enjoyed my Night at the Olympics! I doubt I will get another chance to spend an entire evening in front of the tv before they end next weekend, but I sure had fun last night watching the events. Congratulations to all our athletes who are competing and managing to do so very well coming from a country that doesn't fund its professional athletes to the same extent as some of the others.
All across the country, particularly on the prairies, the rhetoric is heating up over rural property owners and their right to defend themselves again home invasions, vandalism and other rural property crimes, since the Stanley/Boushie trial and its outcome in the courts. The entire issue is difficult enough to deal with but now, of course, the racist card has been played, so the true issues regarding rural crime are in danger of being swept under the carpet while the focus swings onto whites vs aboriginals...again, instead of the fact that the person killed in this situation was committing a crime at the time of his death and that the person who killed him was trying to protect his own property. I have no idea if the killing was actually an accident or murder. I wasn't there and I wasn't in the court room during the trial. I don't know if the person defending his property had a gun go off accidentally or if it was just a horrific accident. I just know that there are many issues here, not just one of race and if we focus only on racism we are going to miss the point of what is needed in making changes to laws surrounding the issues of rural crime and property protection. It is all most disturbing.
My husband is much better today. His cold has subsided substantially over the past 48 hours, he is sleeping well, he was up and eager to get started on some writing immediately after an early breakfast. It is good to see him recovering and anxious to get going on working on this course that means so much to him.
I have no plans for myself today. I was quite tired and out of sorts yesterday after having my meal times and foods so messed up from my regular schedule, so wasn't thinking ahead. Since it is fairly cold again today I may just stay home. I want to purchase a new cover for my duvet and am torn between getting another el cheapo so that I can change it over again in another year or two, or spending the money on an excellent quality cover and having it for the next ten or twenty years. Not a good idea to go shopping until I figure out what is really the best purchase to make. I get bored so easily with "visuals" that I'm not certain that quality is what I am after.
The meat loaf roll is going to have to wait a day or two now. I thawed some chicken yesterday thinking we would be eating it for last night's supper, but my husband wasn't hungry enough for a full meal and my food intake was so messed up I didn't want a big meal either. So, must cook the chicken today!!
Guess I'll see how the day unfolds. Maybe after a hot shower and a hair washing I will feel more motivated to do something useful for the rest of the day!
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Nice....my husband got a call shortly after the first part of this blog post from the company that is putting together his new lap top for him and they required some paper work from him. Between their call and a call he made to a second computer company for another available laptop for his office, we got to go out for a drive around the city late this morning. Despite the cold, it was great to be outside in the sunshine for awhile...AND since computer store number two is right beside the Afghan buffet restaurant...well, guess where we had lunch? teehee My husband has decided our other treat for the week will be lunch out in a day or two at the British tea room. I need to do a carb "fast" for the next day or two to be ready for that one. You can't accuse any of the items on their luncheon menu to be too low in carbohydrates....o my, how on earth am I going to justify a true English meat pie with its wonderful lard filled crust plus a bowl of sticky toffee pudding all in the same meal??? No can do, so have the next couple of days to decide which of the two I will most enjoy. Sigh...decisions, decisions.... (Yes, I know the meat pie SHOULD win the competition, BUT the other choice is STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING!!!! Aiii yiii)
Monday, February 19, 2018
Sometimes Ya' Just Gotta Bite the Bullet and Get Out in the Cold!!
What a wonderful morning we had today! Although it was -27C with a windchill of -33C when we left the house at 8am, we had a wonderful drive to Moose Jaw on clear, dry roads to enjoy some food and fellowship with good friends there.
It was so tempting to phone and cancel our plans at the last minute, particularly since my husband had to rouse himself out of his sick bed last evening for a dinner meeting he was responsible to be at for a diocesan special interest group.
However, he rolled back out of bed again quite happily just before 7:30am, got himself dressed and a cup of hot tea ready for the road and away we went. I gave him a break and did the car warming/window scraping chore so he wouldn't get a chill on our drive and he did very well manning the heater to keep the windows free of frost and his toes toasty warm along the way.
We had a spectacular breakfast...completely off the charts for cholesterol and fat and sodium....blessedly fantastic for a change of pace!!! There were farm fresh eggs scrambled in the fat from the free range bacon strips, onion slices, organic potatoes with thin, tasty skins...everything fried of course and then dowsed in Maldon salt at the table. There was homemade spelt bread, a fruit salad, two kinds of cheeses, the best coffee I have dared to try in a very long time, my husband's special tea blend, the breaking open of a jar of chokecherry syrup that my husband and our friend made from berries they picked nearly ten years ago and that has aged fantastically well, (and is perked up mightily with a half jigger of vodka in each glass...YUMMMMMMMYYYY!!)!
Yeah...it was an amazing dietary splurge at 9:30am!! It took us until after 10:30am to get to the end of our eating extravaganza. Then we stayed for another hour to sit on soft, comfy couches and talk about all kinds of wonderful topics.
Finally, just after 11:30am, we piled our sated selves back into our vehicle and headed back home with the gift of two bottles of excellent wine from our friends wrapped in a blanket on the back seat. Talk about a wonderful Family Day holiday, even though we didn't get to spend it with any actual family!! We opened the bottle of red wine later this afternoon to celebrate the holiday once again!!
My husband woke up feeling so much better today. His coughing fits have been reduced to less than a third of the number of sessions he has had for each of the previous three or four days and although he is tired of course, he spent lots of time this afternoon working on writing his philosophy and world view course, watching some of the Olympic sports on tv and studying. What a mercy he has most of this week to spend at home on study leave, with only one day where he really must go into the office. He can rest lots, sleep in, manage his own time while he gets over his cold and truly be recovered by the time he returns to work full time. YAY!
I am waiting to see the coverage of the flight of Olympic figure skaters my faves are in and then I am going to go to bed early and have another good sleep.
Tomorrow I want to find some extra lean ground beef somewhere and make a meatloaf recipe we stumbled on today as we were channel surfing on the tv. It involved flattening and rolling the meat like a jelly roll around a filling of mashed potato, chopped eggs and celery and a mayo dressing, refrigerating it overnight, then slicing it into rounds and baking the rounds individually on a cookie sheet. I am dying to try to cook something different than usual with ingredients I am allowed to have and the measure in each meat round of the stuffing ingredients is about right for me. Something to have some fun with, if not tomorrow, at some point later this week. I am not a creative cook, but am eager to make use of the abundant energy I have these days to cook something more interesting. Here's hoping.....
It was so tempting to phone and cancel our plans at the last minute, particularly since my husband had to rouse himself out of his sick bed last evening for a dinner meeting he was responsible to be at for a diocesan special interest group.
However, he rolled back out of bed again quite happily just before 7:30am, got himself dressed and a cup of hot tea ready for the road and away we went. I gave him a break and did the car warming/window scraping chore so he wouldn't get a chill on our drive and he did very well manning the heater to keep the windows free of frost and his toes toasty warm along the way.
We had a spectacular breakfast...completely off the charts for cholesterol and fat and sodium....blessedly fantastic for a change of pace!!! There were farm fresh eggs scrambled in the fat from the free range bacon strips, onion slices, organic potatoes with thin, tasty skins...everything fried of course and then dowsed in Maldon salt at the table. There was homemade spelt bread, a fruit salad, two kinds of cheeses, the best coffee I have dared to try in a very long time, my husband's special tea blend, the breaking open of a jar of chokecherry syrup that my husband and our friend made from berries they picked nearly ten years ago and that has aged fantastically well, (and is perked up mightily with a half jigger of vodka in each glass...YUMMMMMMMYYYY!!)!
Yeah...it was an amazing dietary splurge at 9:30am!! It took us until after 10:30am to get to the end of our eating extravaganza. Then we stayed for another hour to sit on soft, comfy couches and talk about all kinds of wonderful topics.
Finally, just after 11:30am, we piled our sated selves back into our vehicle and headed back home with the gift of two bottles of excellent wine from our friends wrapped in a blanket on the back seat. Talk about a wonderful Family Day holiday, even though we didn't get to spend it with any actual family!! We opened the bottle of red wine later this afternoon to celebrate the holiday once again!!
My husband woke up feeling so much better today. His coughing fits have been reduced to less than a third of the number of sessions he has had for each of the previous three or four days and although he is tired of course, he spent lots of time this afternoon working on writing his philosophy and world view course, watching some of the Olympic sports on tv and studying. What a mercy he has most of this week to spend at home on study leave, with only one day where he really must go into the office. He can rest lots, sleep in, manage his own time while he gets over his cold and truly be recovered by the time he returns to work full time. YAY!
I am waiting to see the coverage of the flight of Olympic figure skaters my faves are in and then I am going to go to bed early and have another good sleep.
Tomorrow I want to find some extra lean ground beef somewhere and make a meatloaf recipe we stumbled on today as we were channel surfing on the tv. It involved flattening and rolling the meat like a jelly roll around a filling of mashed potato, chopped eggs and celery and a mayo dressing, refrigerating it overnight, then slicing it into rounds and baking the rounds individually on a cookie sheet. I am dying to try to cook something different than usual with ingredients I am allowed to have and the measure in each meat round of the stuffing ingredients is about right for me. Something to have some fun with, if not tomorrow, at some point later this week. I am not a creative cook, but am eager to make use of the abundant energy I have these days to cook something more interesting. Here's hoping.....
Sunday, February 18, 2018
No Wonder Prairie Canadians Are Such Gloomy Gus's During Winter
I mean, seriously, have you seen what Canadians have for winter wardrobe choices?
Go into any clothing retail store and take a gander at the colour selection for pants and jackets and sweaters: black, navy, black, grey, shades of tan, and did I mention black????
Then there are the teeshirts, shirts and blouses to wear with those pants and jackets and sweaters: a few swirls of colour...on what is apparently a pre-requisite background of black, navy, black, grey, shades of tan, and did I mention black????
Sigh....it is enough to make anyone living here depressed all winter.
This year there wasn't so much as a chocolate brown to take away from the monotony. There was, for a short while, a selection of jackets and sweaters with some ginger or mustard mixed in with the basic tans and navy, but that was about as exciting as it got.
The early spring collections of jackets and blouses and teeshirts are starting to arrive on the shelves all ready and there is a bit of hope there: some mint greens, pinks of all shades, light mauves, cornflower and baby blues, summer yellows and even some shades of red; all to be paired thus far with spring weight pants and skirts in black, navy, black, grey, shades of tan, and did I mention black????
Aiii yiii yiii............
Go into any clothing retail store and take a gander at the colour selection for pants and jackets and sweaters: black, navy, black, grey, shades of tan, and did I mention black????
Then there are the teeshirts, shirts and blouses to wear with those pants and jackets and sweaters: a few swirls of colour...on what is apparently a pre-requisite background of black, navy, black, grey, shades of tan, and did I mention black????
Sigh....it is enough to make anyone living here depressed all winter.
This year there wasn't so much as a chocolate brown to take away from the monotony. There was, for a short while, a selection of jackets and sweaters with some ginger or mustard mixed in with the basic tans and navy, but that was about as exciting as it got.
The early spring collections of jackets and blouses and teeshirts are starting to arrive on the shelves all ready and there is a bit of hope there: some mint greens, pinks of all shades, light mauves, cornflower and baby blues, summer yellows and even some shades of red; all to be paired thus far with spring weight pants and skirts in black, navy, black, grey, shades of tan, and did I mention black????
Aiii yiii yiii............
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Cee--An Update, etc. etc. etc.
I just got an email to let me know that Cee is home from hospital as of this morning. He is weak, but on some new meds to mitigate his most immediate symptoms of distress. He has more testing this coming week and more specialists to see, hopefully sooner rather than later. There is much gratitude for all the praying folk who are so concerned for him. Don't stop now!! hahaha
It is -13C today. SPRING! haha Well, in comparison to the temperatures of most of the past couple of weeks, it feels almost balmy outside this morning. There will be some very cold overnight temperatures over the coming week, but the daytime highs look to be quite bearable! YES!!
My husband is well and truly filled with cold germs! He is hacking and spluttering again today and trying not to laugh because that hurts his throat almost as much as the coughing binges. Thank goodness our trip to Calgary next week was one that can be postponed until a better time for everyone. Although he can't go into the office today because he isn't feeling up to it, he is getting a lot of work done on his computer, so is accomplishing almost as much as if he was physically in the office. I can't believe the difference in his general demeanor and attitude since the CFS episode began to pass. Although he is ill with a cold, he is motivated, he is working, he is cracking silly jokes, he is humming, he is cooking special treats for himself. THIS is my REAL husband, not the depressed, miserable, frightened, unmotivated, fragile, unhappy fellow that appears during the CFS episodes. I am grateful he is on the mend from that. Big changes at work have made a difference for him and are easing the stresses there. He has gone to work quite happily for the past couple of weeks. We should be used to the CFS now after so many years of it, but still, it is a bit daunting each time it attacks him.
We both had great sleeps last night. After our miserable sleep the previous night, it was most wonderful to sleep in until nearly 9am today. Wow, we needed that! Although it puts my meal times out of kilter for the whole day, I don't care. Sleep is precious and nothing disrupts a person's state of being like the loss of it. My blood pressure dropped so low after that one bad night that I nearly passed out from being lightheaded at the grocery store yesterday morning. Today is much better!!
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Hmmm...maybe the sleep didn't help me as much as I thought it did: I gathered all the laundry together awhile ago and put the first load into the washer. Then I became engrossed in a book I am reading and completely forgot about the laundry...as in completely, absolutely, totally forgot about it! TWO HOURS later I just remembered it and headed downstairs to put the first load in the dryer and start the second load washing. Sigh....maybe a second equally good night of sleep is required to get my thinking straight again! hahahahaha
I admit I kind of like having my husband home on a Saturday, even if he is spending most of the day in isolation at his computer desk. Just having another presence in the house on a day when so many couples get to have a day off together make me feel happy.
It is -13C today. SPRING! haha Well, in comparison to the temperatures of most of the past couple of weeks, it feels almost balmy outside this morning. There will be some very cold overnight temperatures over the coming week, but the daytime highs look to be quite bearable! YES!!
My husband is well and truly filled with cold germs! He is hacking and spluttering again today and trying not to laugh because that hurts his throat almost as much as the coughing binges. Thank goodness our trip to Calgary next week was one that can be postponed until a better time for everyone. Although he can't go into the office today because he isn't feeling up to it, he is getting a lot of work done on his computer, so is accomplishing almost as much as if he was physically in the office. I can't believe the difference in his general demeanor and attitude since the CFS episode began to pass. Although he is ill with a cold, he is motivated, he is working, he is cracking silly jokes, he is humming, he is cooking special treats for himself. THIS is my REAL husband, not the depressed, miserable, frightened, unmotivated, fragile, unhappy fellow that appears during the CFS episodes. I am grateful he is on the mend from that. Big changes at work have made a difference for him and are easing the stresses there. He has gone to work quite happily for the past couple of weeks. We should be used to the CFS now after so many years of it, but still, it is a bit daunting each time it attacks him.
We both had great sleeps last night. After our miserable sleep the previous night, it was most wonderful to sleep in until nearly 9am today. Wow, we needed that! Although it puts my meal times out of kilter for the whole day, I don't care. Sleep is precious and nothing disrupts a person's state of being like the loss of it. My blood pressure dropped so low after that one bad night that I nearly passed out from being lightheaded at the grocery store yesterday morning. Today is much better!!
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Hmmm...maybe the sleep didn't help me as much as I thought it did: I gathered all the laundry together awhile ago and put the first load into the washer. Then I became engrossed in a book I am reading and completely forgot about the laundry...as in completely, absolutely, totally forgot about it! TWO HOURS later I just remembered it and headed downstairs to put the first load in the dryer and start the second load washing. Sigh....maybe a second equally good night of sleep is required to get my thinking straight again! hahahahaha
I admit I kind of like having my husband home on a Saturday, even if he is spending most of the day in isolation at his computer desk. Just having another presence in the house on a day when so many couples get to have a day off together make me feel happy.
Friday, February 16, 2018
Dribs and Drabs
I really, really, really, truly, truly, truly enjoyed my first choir practise last evening for the Easter Seasonal Choir. WHAT FUN to be singing under the direction of a well seasoned, super experienced, lifelong music director once again. It has been a few decades since that happened. I wish my voice was still up to the same par as this man's directing skills!
I was the only new recruit there last night. The only other folk there are members of the church choir our director has led for years. The other new people will arrive for rehearsal on March 1, but since the director is a childhood friend of mine, he invited me to come early to meet everyone from his own choir and to let me get started learning the music with them ahead of the crowd.
Unfortunately, I was the second youngest person there....again....sigh....so of course the songs are far too easy to be interesting musically, but I have to say that with my friend directing, we could sing the phone book and I wouldn't complain...seriously. The other bonus is that the people in his church choir are extremely friendly and kind to "strangers" in their midst. I don't remember the last time I felt so welcomed into a group of people who have known each other for many years and have no clue who I might be, or care. They are just wonderfully kind people. I certainly did not feel excluded or invisible or unwanted. You want to know how to get new bodies in your choir and/or church pews? Just give all newcomers the sincerely joyful welcome these people gave me and you will pack them in, I am certain of it. I am going to mightily enjoy the next few weeks of rehearsal.
My husband is home from work today with a most terrible cold...similar to the one he had last autumn but possibly worse. He was awake by 2am today, coughing and choking and spluttering and trying to breathe through his nose. BUT you know what? The depression that accompanies the bad CFS episodes, like the one he is just coming to the end of, is GONE! He sat in bed from 2am to 6am doing emails for his job because he knew he couldn't possibly go into work today and spread such sinus joy around to the rest of the staff. Then he went back to sleep for a couple of hours. Throughout the day today he has done some more emails and texts and made some phone calls for work. By the time the day is done he will have put in almost a full day. Last autumn when he had this sort of cold he was so depressed I was worried about him. This session...totally different. Instead of moaning and groaning about being behind on the job, missing out on meetings etc., he has worked at home today, has been amazingly cheery despite feeling wretched and is making plans for how to juggle his next few days of work and rest to the best advantage. Thank you Jesus!!! (and all you faithful prayers warriors who have seen him through this latest health issue)
I called my parents' residence in Calgary this afternoon to officially cancel our booking for the guest room next week. It is obvious today that there is no way my husband will be over this cold sufficiently to leave for Calgary next week. Soon after I made the call, my parents phoned to let me know that part of their building is now on lockdown for some kind of horrible 'flu' virus and their part of the building will likely be next. In other words it is possible we would have driven all the way to Calgary only to find my parents just being put into lockdown, and therefore unable to see us at all after all that planning and driving. We would have arrived to find our access to the building, guest room and all, completely blocked. Once again we are so grateful to God that we went ahead and did the wise thing by cancelling the trip the other night.
I was in a baking mood this afternoon for some reason, so I tinkered around with a banana loaf recipe and altered my honey cookie recipe to reduce both fats and sugars, just for an experiment. My reaction to the results is a great, big, fat "MEH!" Both items are okay and will eventually be eaten, but they are less than exciting to my palate! My husband quite likes both of them actually, but for me the lack of sweetness will take some getting used to. At least it will be something different for a snack for a day or two for both of us.
I am enjoying my new Remy Olivier ceramic cookwear. Stokes kitchenware had a sale a few months ago and I replaced some of my older bakeware with the ceramics. I like them. To have a loaf fall out of a pan so easily and with no danger of it splitting in the middle because of one end hanging onto the pan..well...what a treat!
We purchased a new toaster oven a few weeks ago, but I kept the trays from the old one. They are just perfect for putting those last 3 of 4 balls of cookie dough onto for baking in the oven...the last 3 or 4 balls I just can't squeeze onto the regular cookie sheet without risking them flattening out and running into the other, more well placed and separated cookie balls.
My husband is calling me to let me know he is going to have a nap, so I best stop clattering away on this noisy old keyboard!
I was the only new recruit there last night. The only other folk there are members of the church choir our director has led for years. The other new people will arrive for rehearsal on March 1, but since the director is a childhood friend of mine, he invited me to come early to meet everyone from his own choir and to let me get started learning the music with them ahead of the crowd.
Unfortunately, I was the second youngest person there....again....sigh....so of course the songs are far too easy to be interesting musically, but I have to say that with my friend directing, we could sing the phone book and I wouldn't complain...seriously. The other bonus is that the people in his church choir are extremely friendly and kind to "strangers" in their midst. I don't remember the last time I felt so welcomed into a group of people who have known each other for many years and have no clue who I might be, or care. They are just wonderfully kind people. I certainly did not feel excluded or invisible or unwanted. You want to know how to get new bodies in your choir and/or church pews? Just give all newcomers the sincerely joyful welcome these people gave me and you will pack them in, I am certain of it. I am going to mightily enjoy the next few weeks of rehearsal.
My husband is home from work today with a most terrible cold...similar to the one he had last autumn but possibly worse. He was awake by 2am today, coughing and choking and spluttering and trying to breathe through his nose. BUT you know what? The depression that accompanies the bad CFS episodes, like the one he is just coming to the end of, is GONE! He sat in bed from 2am to 6am doing emails for his job because he knew he couldn't possibly go into work today and spread such sinus joy around to the rest of the staff. Then he went back to sleep for a couple of hours. Throughout the day today he has done some more emails and texts and made some phone calls for work. By the time the day is done he will have put in almost a full day. Last autumn when he had this sort of cold he was so depressed I was worried about him. This session...totally different. Instead of moaning and groaning about being behind on the job, missing out on meetings etc., he has worked at home today, has been amazingly cheery despite feeling wretched and is making plans for how to juggle his next few days of work and rest to the best advantage. Thank you Jesus!!! (and all you faithful prayers warriors who have seen him through this latest health issue)
I called my parents' residence in Calgary this afternoon to officially cancel our booking for the guest room next week. It is obvious today that there is no way my husband will be over this cold sufficiently to leave for Calgary next week. Soon after I made the call, my parents phoned to let me know that part of their building is now on lockdown for some kind of horrible 'flu' virus and their part of the building will likely be next. In other words it is possible we would have driven all the way to Calgary only to find my parents just being put into lockdown, and therefore unable to see us at all after all that planning and driving. We would have arrived to find our access to the building, guest room and all, completely blocked. Once again we are so grateful to God that we went ahead and did the wise thing by cancelling the trip the other night.
I was in a baking mood this afternoon for some reason, so I tinkered around with a banana loaf recipe and altered my honey cookie recipe to reduce both fats and sugars, just for an experiment. My reaction to the results is a great, big, fat "MEH!" Both items are okay and will eventually be eaten, but they are less than exciting to my palate! My husband quite likes both of them actually, but for me the lack of sweetness will take some getting used to. At least it will be something different for a snack for a day or two for both of us.
I am enjoying my new Remy Olivier ceramic cookwear. Stokes kitchenware had a sale a few months ago and I replaced some of my older bakeware with the ceramics. I like them. To have a loaf fall out of a pan so easily and with no danger of it splitting in the middle because of one end hanging onto the pan..well...what a treat!
We purchased a new toaster oven a few weeks ago, but I kept the trays from the old one. They are just perfect for putting those last 3 of 4 balls of cookie dough onto for baking in the oven...the last 3 or 4 balls I just can't squeeze onto the regular cookie sheet without risking them flattening out and running into the other, more well placed and separated cookie balls.
My husband is calling me to let me know he is going to have a nap, so I best stop clattering away on this noisy old keyboard!
-5C This Afternoon and Sunny....YIPPEE!!!!
What a difference a day makes on the prairies in the winter!
Yesterday I literally stayed in my Mark's Comfy Robe and Chapters Reading Socks until 6pm when I HAD to get dressed to go to choir practise. It was a miserably cold day once again, cloudy, windy, little bits of snow drifting down intermittently...certainly was not the sort of motivating day I needed to get anything done around here! Let me be kind to myself and say I "rested" a lot!
This morning when I got up at 7am there was a windchill of -30C and wow, it was one chilly drive to the grocery store. The good part about that is there were so few people shopping for groceries, despite it being the Friday morning of our provincial Family Day long weekend. O YAY! I cruised out of the grocery store lot and arrived at WallyWorld just before 9am, to find the parking lot had less than a dozen cars in it. London Drugs was so deserted I think I could have shot a cannon down most of the aisles and not hit a living soul. Even the bank, when I arrived at 9:30am, just as it was opening for the day, had a line up of exactly two people! Did I miss the cancellation of our long weekend holiday, or did the city travellers depart all ready last night in hopes of getting to their destinations before the predicted possibilty of weekend snowstorms has a chance to come true? Whatever the reason, it was the best Friday morning shopping time I have had in a very long time!!
Now I have just come inside from shovelling and it is -5C out there. ABSOLUTELY FREAKING WONDERFUL!! There is barely a breeze to battle and the sun is brilliant in the sky. Wonder what price we will end up paying for this unexpectedly lovely day??!!?
Yesterday I literally stayed in my Mark's Comfy Robe and Chapters Reading Socks until 6pm when I HAD to get dressed to go to choir practise. It was a miserably cold day once again, cloudy, windy, little bits of snow drifting down intermittently...certainly was not the sort of motivating day I needed to get anything done around here! Let me be kind to myself and say I "rested" a lot!
This morning when I got up at 7am there was a windchill of -30C and wow, it was one chilly drive to the grocery store. The good part about that is there were so few people shopping for groceries, despite it being the Friday morning of our provincial Family Day long weekend. O YAY! I cruised out of the grocery store lot and arrived at WallyWorld just before 9am, to find the parking lot had less than a dozen cars in it. London Drugs was so deserted I think I could have shot a cannon down most of the aisles and not hit a living soul. Even the bank, when I arrived at 9:30am, just as it was opening for the day, had a line up of exactly two people! Did I miss the cancellation of our long weekend holiday, or did the city travellers depart all ready last night in hopes of getting to their destinations before the predicted possibilty of weekend snowstorms has a chance to come true? Whatever the reason, it was the best Friday morning shopping time I have had in a very long time!!
Now I have just come inside from shovelling and it is -5C out there. ABSOLUTELY FREAKING WONDERFUL!! There is barely a breeze to battle and the sun is brilliant in the sky. Wonder what price we will end up paying for this unexpectedly lovely day??!!?
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
The Plan Is NOT Coming Together!! O Well.......
Mom and Dad called tonight. They called specifically to request that we not come to see them next week. Sanity over travelling in the now looming bad weather is winning out over the desire to get together. Disappointed as we are, we have to admit their concern is justified. Sigh....our travel plans so far this year have all come to nought.
I can see their point. They aren't worrying unnecessarily, because a terrible storm is to blow into their area on Friday and last for the entire weekend. All ready, from the wind and show showers of the past couple days in their area, highways have been closed; there are long ice covered stretches as well on which travel is not recommended. An Arctic cold front is to follow the coming storm, meaning neither of my elderly parents is going to want to go out of the residence for so much as a luncheon out because they get so very cold having to be outside for more than a few seconds. Sometimes I forget how fragile each of them has become in the past two years.
After we made the decision, talked about other things for awhile and eventually said goodbye, my husband arrived home bearing with him the beginnings of what appears to be the start of a very heavy cold!! I can tell all ready that there is no way he is going to be fit to travel all the way to Calgary in another 5 days!! He may not end up feeling completely miserable by the weekend, but it is best that we have all ready cancelled our trip so he can relax and not be worrying about whether or not he would be well enough to travel, plus he would rather not spread a cold throughout a seniors' residence!
So, things are working out, just not the way we hoped and planned. My husband likely has sufficient study texts and other materials to do his study leave right here at home next week. We can still order a file cabinet for my parents and hire a delivery company from their own city to take it to them. The soup I made for them today can remain in the freezer for a few weeks and if we still haven't been to see them by the end of March, we can eat the soup ourselves. (We had some for dinner this evening and it was tres delicious, if I do say so myself!! And I DO!!)
Tomorrow I will call Calgary and cancel our accommdation for next week. Although I am disappointed this didn't work out, I am totally at peace that things are happening the way they are supposed to. When the decision was made, I could actually hear the tension draining from my parents' voices.
The temperature here has dropped significantly since 4pm, the wind is howling and blowing today's snowfall all over the place and apparently our own highways are drifting over with snow while the daytime melt is freezing as the night goes along. I am so grateful that the only place I have to drive tomorrow is to choir after dinner!
I can see their point. They aren't worrying unnecessarily, because a terrible storm is to blow into their area on Friday and last for the entire weekend. All ready, from the wind and show showers of the past couple days in their area, highways have been closed; there are long ice covered stretches as well on which travel is not recommended. An Arctic cold front is to follow the coming storm, meaning neither of my elderly parents is going to want to go out of the residence for so much as a luncheon out because they get so very cold having to be outside for more than a few seconds. Sometimes I forget how fragile each of them has become in the past two years.
After we made the decision, talked about other things for awhile and eventually said goodbye, my husband arrived home bearing with him the beginnings of what appears to be the start of a very heavy cold!! I can tell all ready that there is no way he is going to be fit to travel all the way to Calgary in another 5 days!! He may not end up feeling completely miserable by the weekend, but it is best that we have all ready cancelled our trip so he can relax and not be worrying about whether or not he would be well enough to travel, plus he would rather not spread a cold throughout a seniors' residence!
So, things are working out, just not the way we hoped and planned. My husband likely has sufficient study texts and other materials to do his study leave right here at home next week. We can still order a file cabinet for my parents and hire a delivery company from their own city to take it to them. The soup I made for them today can remain in the freezer for a few weeks and if we still haven't been to see them by the end of March, we can eat the soup ourselves. (We had some for dinner this evening and it was tres delicious, if I do say so myself!! And I DO!!)
Tomorrow I will call Calgary and cancel our accommdation for next week. Although I am disappointed this didn't work out, I am totally at peace that things are happening the way they are supposed to. When the decision was made, I could actually hear the tension draining from my parents' voices.
The temperature here has dropped significantly since 4pm, the wind is howling and blowing today's snowfall all over the place and apparently our own highways are drifting over with snow while the daytime melt is freezing as the night goes along. I am so grateful that the only place I have to drive tomorrow is to choir after dinner!
Happy Valentines Day Everybody...For Whatever It's Worth I Suppose
I hope my heart is as warm and cheery as the weather is outside here today. Although it is overcast and snowing rather fiercely, I love the huge fluffy flakes and the warm air. Around here, any sudden mid-winter warm up automatically means a dump of snow.
I was out to the grocery store getting soup making fixings early this morning and have a small batch of chicken vegetable on the stovetop. The chicken meat is boiling off the bones, the herb pack is anchored firmly in place in the pot, the vegatables are all cut and wrapped, ready to be added later on after I have stripped down the carcass and run the first boiling through the sieve. The falling snow makes even a warm day like today feel like a soup making day.
I am hoping the utility bills arrive today so I have an excuse to go out and drive in the fresh snow again. My car has joined the hundreds of other cars around here in turning gloppy brown from the slush being tossed up by all the vehicle tires. It needs to be washed again but there is no point until the temperature drops again and re-freezes the slop on the streets. Tomorrow we start plunging again into the very cold weather, but it sure was a great feeling to leave the car unplugged for over 24 hours due to the current "chinook" like temperatures that arrived yesterday afternoon.
I am praying hard for my husband right now. On the threshold of excellent recovery from this latest CFS episode it appears he is now fighting a cold. O dear....if that is the case it will effectively cancel our trip to see my parents next week. I am trying not to worry, but I was so hoping this trip would work out. VERY glad we made the decision to drive rather than to book airline tickets. Not that cancelled flights don't result in getting credit for subsequent flights, but it is a hassle to redeem them sometimes and I don't feel up to dealing with all the monkeying around. Well, it is up to God whether we go or stay home.
Time to go check on the soup again. Would love to get it done by this evening and into the freezer. I bought a few "mom's small freezer space" friendly cartons at the store this morning. The meals have been so dreadful lately at their facility that they readily agreed to me bringing a few prepared meals with me this visit....assuming it is still going to happen. Sigh....o please, o please, o please, o please......
I was out to the grocery store getting soup making fixings early this morning and have a small batch of chicken vegetable on the stovetop. The chicken meat is boiling off the bones, the herb pack is anchored firmly in place in the pot, the vegatables are all cut and wrapped, ready to be added later on after I have stripped down the carcass and run the first boiling through the sieve. The falling snow makes even a warm day like today feel like a soup making day.
I am hoping the utility bills arrive today so I have an excuse to go out and drive in the fresh snow again. My car has joined the hundreds of other cars around here in turning gloppy brown from the slush being tossed up by all the vehicle tires. It needs to be washed again but there is no point until the temperature drops again and re-freezes the slop on the streets. Tomorrow we start plunging again into the very cold weather, but it sure was a great feeling to leave the car unplugged for over 24 hours due to the current "chinook" like temperatures that arrived yesterday afternoon.
I am praying hard for my husband right now. On the threshold of excellent recovery from this latest CFS episode it appears he is now fighting a cold. O dear....if that is the case it will effectively cancel our trip to see my parents next week. I am trying not to worry, but I was so hoping this trip would work out. VERY glad we made the decision to drive rather than to book airline tickets. Not that cancelled flights don't result in getting credit for subsequent flights, but it is a hassle to redeem them sometimes and I don't feel up to dealing with all the monkeying around. Well, it is up to God whether we go or stay home.
Time to go check on the soup again. Would love to get it done by this evening and into the freezer. I bought a few "mom's small freezer space" friendly cartons at the store this morning. The meals have been so dreadful lately at their facility that they readily agreed to me bringing a few prepared meals with me this visit....assuming it is still going to happen. Sigh....o please, o please, o please, o please......
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Another Joyful Day...Mostly Anyway
The sun is out, the temperature has risen more than 20 degrees since last night, it is close to above freezing...yup, the kind of day a person on the prairies in winter lives for!
INSERT HUGE SMILEY FACE HERE!!!!!!!
My husband was up and on his way to work earlier than usual this morning simply because he was feeling so much better after yet another good night's sleep. Thank you Lord for that. His early departure made it that much easier for me to get ready to catch the 9:20am bus to Cornwall Centre for my haircut. When I arrived at the shop my appointment had been written onto the wrong day on their schedule, but fortunately for me my stylist is working today and had time to squeeze me in only a half hour later than my orginal time. YAY!! It worked out well. As soon as I got out of the shop I raced to catch my bus home, but there was some kind of problem with that bus and it didn't arrive on time at the stop. I waited with a large group of university students, all very concerned that they were going to be late for classes. When 15 minutes after departure time arrived and still no bus, I gave up the wait and headed back into Cornwall Centre for a Zam's salad. I ate breakfast so early I was feeling ill from low blood sugar, so I am glad I didn't wait any longer for that bus to take me home.
As I sat eating lunch at the mall, I had an idea for a gift to take with me this afternoon when I went to see a friend who is recovering from surgery. I had just enough time after I ate to pick up some special teas for her from David's Teas and catch the next bus home, which fortunately did show up on schedule. So, it all worked out very well and my friend received a much nicer gift than she would have if the first bus I tried to catch had arrived on time. I hope those worried students got to school okay.
It was such fun visiting with my friend. We drank lemon chamomile tea and chattered like a couple of sparrows. We haven't seen each other in over a month, have only been in touch by the occasional text and email, so it was great to get together for a real visit. She will be incapacitated for awhile longer, but is recovering very well. I am so happy about that.
I have an excellent dinner planned for my husband this evening. He and the other staff were cooking up a Shrove Tuesday pancake lunch together today. My husband took his own delicious Mrs. Nunweiler's mix with him so he could avoid the corn in the mix the rest of the staff were going to use. I am so glad that in the midst of extreme busyness they took a few extra minutes today to really enjoy fellowshipping together over a special meal. So, my husband will be ready for a big Meat'n'Potatoes meal at dinnertime tonight.
Update on Cee: he continues to have post biopsy related problems so has been admitted to hospital for a few days of rest and meds until things settle down. The wonderful part of this stressful and scary event is that FINALLY, months after many other requests to see a particular type of specialist have been turned down and deemed unnecessary, the ER doctor yesterday agreed with Cee that seeing that specialist IS the next step in seeking out the cause of all these problems. YES!! Thank you Lord! Out of this bad weekend has come something potentially very good indeed. Bless you everybody all for your prayers.
Last night I was so burdened by our many suffering friends that I could hardly bear to open any more emails or answer any more phone calls. All the news for the past couple of days has been bad, each new contact bringing news of yet another ghastly illness attacking someone we love. When I got back from downtown today I got ANOTHER phone call from a friend who spent the night in hospital last night. Sigh....WOW....when is this going to end? I admit, despite all the time I spent praying yesterday and giving the problems to God to solve, right before bedtime last night it all kind of got to me. Fortunately a good night's sleep has restored my ability to deal with bad news today. Lord, may there not be any more!! AMEN!
INSERT HUGE SMILEY FACE HERE!!!!!!!
My husband was up and on his way to work earlier than usual this morning simply because he was feeling so much better after yet another good night's sleep. Thank you Lord for that. His early departure made it that much easier for me to get ready to catch the 9:20am bus to Cornwall Centre for my haircut. When I arrived at the shop my appointment had been written onto the wrong day on their schedule, but fortunately for me my stylist is working today and had time to squeeze me in only a half hour later than my orginal time. YAY!! It worked out well. As soon as I got out of the shop I raced to catch my bus home, but there was some kind of problem with that bus and it didn't arrive on time at the stop. I waited with a large group of university students, all very concerned that they were going to be late for classes. When 15 minutes after departure time arrived and still no bus, I gave up the wait and headed back into Cornwall Centre for a Zam's salad. I ate breakfast so early I was feeling ill from low blood sugar, so I am glad I didn't wait any longer for that bus to take me home.
As I sat eating lunch at the mall, I had an idea for a gift to take with me this afternoon when I went to see a friend who is recovering from surgery. I had just enough time after I ate to pick up some special teas for her from David's Teas and catch the next bus home, which fortunately did show up on schedule. So, it all worked out very well and my friend received a much nicer gift than she would have if the first bus I tried to catch had arrived on time. I hope those worried students got to school okay.
It was such fun visiting with my friend. We drank lemon chamomile tea and chattered like a couple of sparrows. We haven't seen each other in over a month, have only been in touch by the occasional text and email, so it was great to get together for a real visit. She will be incapacitated for awhile longer, but is recovering very well. I am so happy about that.
I have an excellent dinner planned for my husband this evening. He and the other staff were cooking up a Shrove Tuesday pancake lunch together today. My husband took his own delicious Mrs. Nunweiler's mix with him so he could avoid the corn in the mix the rest of the staff were going to use. I am so glad that in the midst of extreme busyness they took a few extra minutes today to really enjoy fellowshipping together over a special meal. So, my husband will be ready for a big Meat'n'Potatoes meal at dinnertime tonight.
Update on Cee: he continues to have post biopsy related problems so has been admitted to hospital for a few days of rest and meds until things settle down. The wonderful part of this stressful and scary event is that FINALLY, months after many other requests to see a particular type of specialist have been turned down and deemed unnecessary, the ER doctor yesterday agreed with Cee that seeing that specialist IS the next step in seeking out the cause of all these problems. YES!! Thank you Lord! Out of this bad weekend has come something potentially very good indeed. Bless you everybody all for your prayers.
Last night I was so burdened by our many suffering friends that I could hardly bear to open any more emails or answer any more phone calls. All the news for the past couple of days has been bad, each new contact bringing news of yet another ghastly illness attacking someone we love. When I got back from downtown today I got ANOTHER phone call from a friend who spent the night in hospital last night. Sigh....WOW....when is this going to end? I admit, despite all the time I spent praying yesterday and giving the problems to God to solve, right before bedtime last night it all kind of got to me. Fortunately a good night's sleep has restored my ability to deal with bad news today. Lord, may there not be any more!! AMEN!
Monday, February 12, 2018
Thanks For Your Continued Prayers for Cee
Just got an update on Cee's condition. There was no more bleeding overnight and his hemoglobin count has risen substantially, although it has a way to go before returning to normal count. If all is well by later this afternoon he will be able to go home again. The family thanks you so much for praying...NOW if the root problem can finally be diagnosed....not sure what is going on and why the problem is so difficult to solve, (entering year 2 of symptoms!!), but we can keep supporting Cee by praying for God's mercy and help, that He who is faithful to answer will bring more peace and joy and physical strength in the interim until the diagnosis finally happens.
We are in the age group now that has constant health related prayer requests for ourselves, our friends and our families. HOWEVER, the healthy times in between one illness/one episode connected to chronic conditions, and another, are even greater causes for rejoicing because they seem fewer and farther between at this stage of life.
So grateful for the consolation that comes from prayer.
We are in the age group now that has constant health related prayer requests for ourselves, our friends and our families. HOWEVER, the healthy times in between one illness/one episode connected to chronic conditions, and another, are even greater causes for rejoicing because they seem fewer and farther between at this stage of life.
So grateful for the consolation that comes from prayer.
Tipping the Scales! Tee Hee
We began our morning, this freezing, bitter -40C morning, with a most encouraging appointment for my husband with his doctor. The man has a wonderful grasp of what my husband is suffering with his CFS and the related digestive issues. We came away with a prescription med to replace the over the counter one so that the cost could be covered by our health care plan and that is a great relief as it is rather expensive.
While we waited for the prescription to be ready we purchased some groceries we needed. Or at least, we tried! We needed 2 litres of 2% milk...the store was sold out. We needed a pack of medium soft tofu....the store was sold out. We needed some Pure Leaf unsweetened green tea....the store was sold out. We needed a bottle of pure cranberry juice....the store was sold out. How does a person NOT get the giggles during a "shopping" trip like that?? Impossible! I couldn't stop laughing as we located the place where each of our needed items was supposed to be on the various shelves and in the coolers and each one was empty of product. Well, it kept us occupied anyway while we waited for the pharmacy to get the prescriptions ready! hahaha Might as well have fun with those sorts of situations, right? hahaha
By the time the pharmacy had everything ready and we were "shopped" out, it was nearly lunch time, well, actually it was only just after 11am, but we were up early and finished breakfast before 7am, so.... My husband informed me that he would like to step across the street to his favourite Syrian operated cafe, Abstractions, (he LOVES visiting with the proprietor) to have lentil soup and a vegetarian panini for lunch....again with the eating out!! hahahaha He is just feeling so much better and didn't want to have to go home right away as it was so great for him to be able to be out and about on his days off for a change, rather than laying around in front of the tv or computer feeling exhausted and miserable. Well, we haven't exactly been spending a lot on entertainment lately, so why not if it makes him happy, right? hahaha Ooh, the lentil soup was heavenly with the addition of a bit of long grain rice and plenty of lemon. I had a small bean burrito with mine because they do such a lovely job of the filling. I splurged on a tiny chai latte and it was a fantastic treat. My husband happily discovered an herb tea that is made only of dried, crushed lime peelings. Had they not been out of mint tea, (do we see a recurring theme here??? haha), he would never have tried the delicious new discovery.
I assumed we would head off then to our neighbourhood grocery to purchase the things we hadn't be able to get at the first store. However, my husband turned the opposite direction to home and headed up Albert Street to Ngoy Hoa Asian Grocery, where we were able to purchase everything we couldn't get at the first store, except for the cranberry juice! What a wonderful store! We found some things there we either haven't seen at other local Asian groceries or didn't want to pay such high prices for. Here, the prices were most reasonable so we purchased the Yamasa Less Salt soy sauce...lower salt per serving even than the Kikkoman Lower Sodium soy sauce, a bottle of Ponzu, an 8 pack of individual seaweed wrappers that were not preserved in corn oil, a few of the fresh, tiny Chinese yams I so love, a new herb/spice net for making some soup my mom wants me to bring to Calgary next week, green tea soba noodles, a bottle of Kirin milk tea, and dried chestnuts to roast. We hoped to purchase some of the yam paste we so loved when we lived in Tokyo, but the bars sent to the Canadian market contain corn products, so it wasn't possible...the only disappointment. It is the best Asian grocery in town for our particular needs and is quite a large venue...so much selection! We will be going back there next time we need more Japanese soba, rice and yam noodles and some of their corn free Chinese cooking sauces.
My husband was delighted to discover it wasn't even quite 1pm when we got home again so he is happily enjoying the rest of his afternoon off working on his next teaching assignment, watching the Olympics and delighting in having had three good nights of sleep in a row. He is sleeping better now that he has returned to his old habit of taking some melatonin and valerian an hour before he goes to bed and the doctor is delighted he can use those instead of having to use sleeping pills.
Having no starch intake after about 7pm has made a huge difference to the amount of dizziness he has been waking up with. He was almost completely free of it this morning. After more than 2 weeks of it he was tempted to despair, but now, starch free bedtime snacks are working well. This constant need to be out and about, eating in restaurants three times in a row, etc. is just evidence he is feeling like he has "gotten out of jail free" and I am not going to stop him from having fun for a change. Tomorrow he returns to work for another challenging week, so he might as well have fun on his days off instead of feeling too ill to care about even getting dressed. Thank you prayer warriors and thank you Lord!
One thing I purchased for myself to try this afternoon was a small can of the new Diet Coke Orange flavoured cola. I just finished drinking it and my reaction is absolutely "meh"....... If I was to drink an orange flavoured Diet Coke again I would pick up the caffeine free regular and slice up a fresh orange to squeeze into it. There simply is insufficient fruit flavour in these sorts of things to interest me. I picked up a can of the cherry flavoured one as well but suspect I will have the same experience. Guess I will find out in a few days when I give it a try.
So now it is just after 2pm and I NEED to eat at home for dinner...at least I think I do. My husband may think otherwise, hahahahaha. Can't say we didn't celebrate Valentines Day sufficiently THIS year!
While we waited for the prescription to be ready we purchased some groceries we needed. Or at least, we tried! We needed 2 litres of 2% milk...the store was sold out. We needed a pack of medium soft tofu....the store was sold out. We needed some Pure Leaf unsweetened green tea....the store was sold out. We needed a bottle of pure cranberry juice....the store was sold out. How does a person NOT get the giggles during a "shopping" trip like that?? Impossible! I couldn't stop laughing as we located the place where each of our needed items was supposed to be on the various shelves and in the coolers and each one was empty of product. Well, it kept us occupied anyway while we waited for the pharmacy to get the prescriptions ready! hahaha Might as well have fun with those sorts of situations, right? hahaha
By the time the pharmacy had everything ready and we were "shopped" out, it was nearly lunch time, well, actually it was only just after 11am, but we were up early and finished breakfast before 7am, so.... My husband informed me that he would like to step across the street to his favourite Syrian operated cafe, Abstractions, (he LOVES visiting with the proprietor) to have lentil soup and a vegetarian panini for lunch....again with the eating out!! hahahaha He is just feeling so much better and didn't want to have to go home right away as it was so great for him to be able to be out and about on his days off for a change, rather than laying around in front of the tv or computer feeling exhausted and miserable. Well, we haven't exactly been spending a lot on entertainment lately, so why not if it makes him happy, right? hahaha Ooh, the lentil soup was heavenly with the addition of a bit of long grain rice and plenty of lemon. I had a small bean burrito with mine because they do such a lovely job of the filling. I splurged on a tiny chai latte and it was a fantastic treat. My husband happily discovered an herb tea that is made only of dried, crushed lime peelings. Had they not been out of mint tea, (do we see a recurring theme here??? haha), he would never have tried the delicious new discovery.
I assumed we would head off then to our neighbourhood grocery to purchase the things we hadn't be able to get at the first store. However, my husband turned the opposite direction to home and headed up Albert Street to Ngoy Hoa Asian Grocery, where we were able to purchase everything we couldn't get at the first store, except for the cranberry juice! What a wonderful store! We found some things there we either haven't seen at other local Asian groceries or didn't want to pay such high prices for. Here, the prices were most reasonable so we purchased the Yamasa Less Salt soy sauce...lower salt per serving even than the Kikkoman Lower Sodium soy sauce, a bottle of Ponzu, an 8 pack of individual seaweed wrappers that were not preserved in corn oil, a few of the fresh, tiny Chinese yams I so love, a new herb/spice net for making some soup my mom wants me to bring to Calgary next week, green tea soba noodles, a bottle of Kirin milk tea, and dried chestnuts to roast. We hoped to purchase some of the yam paste we so loved when we lived in Tokyo, but the bars sent to the Canadian market contain corn products, so it wasn't possible...the only disappointment. It is the best Asian grocery in town for our particular needs and is quite a large venue...so much selection! We will be going back there next time we need more Japanese soba, rice and yam noodles and some of their corn free Chinese cooking sauces.
My husband was delighted to discover it wasn't even quite 1pm when we got home again so he is happily enjoying the rest of his afternoon off working on his next teaching assignment, watching the Olympics and delighting in having had three good nights of sleep in a row. He is sleeping better now that he has returned to his old habit of taking some melatonin and valerian an hour before he goes to bed and the doctor is delighted he can use those instead of having to use sleeping pills.
Having no starch intake after about 7pm has made a huge difference to the amount of dizziness he has been waking up with. He was almost completely free of it this morning. After more than 2 weeks of it he was tempted to despair, but now, starch free bedtime snacks are working well. This constant need to be out and about, eating in restaurants three times in a row, etc. is just evidence he is feeling like he has "gotten out of jail free" and I am not going to stop him from having fun for a change. Tomorrow he returns to work for another challenging week, so he might as well have fun on his days off instead of feeling too ill to care about even getting dressed. Thank you prayer warriors and thank you Lord!
One thing I purchased for myself to try this afternoon was a small can of the new Diet Coke Orange flavoured cola. I just finished drinking it and my reaction is absolutely "meh"....... If I was to drink an orange flavoured Diet Coke again I would pick up the caffeine free regular and slice up a fresh orange to squeeze into it. There simply is insufficient fruit flavour in these sorts of things to interest me. I picked up a can of the cherry flavoured one as well but suspect I will have the same experience. Guess I will find out in a few days when I give it a try.
So now it is just after 2pm and I NEED to eat at home for dinner...at least I think I do. My husband may think otherwise, hahahahaha. Can't say we didn't celebrate Valentines Day sufficiently THIS year!
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