After dinner again this evening my husband decided a walk up to the Big Book Sale would be in order. hahahahaha By the time we arrived home we had spent a LOT of money on second hand books, but when each load has cost us around twenty dollars or less, who was keeping track right? hahaha
Results of our book shopping sprees of the last two days are: 52 books for me and 20 books for my husband. He promised me he wouldn't buy any books because he has so many currently being read, or waiting in a line up on the book shelves in his home office for his attention. hahahahaha Ludicrous........anyway, he is happy as a lark with his great deal on his books and with all the stress he is under I am not going to rain on his parade and tell him he shouldn't have purchased any more reading material.
It will definitely take me all winter to read 52 books! hahaha I tend to go for very thick, old fashioned style novels that run into the many hundreds of pages in length. There is something about the "saga" style length novels, even if they are not at all sagas in story, that immediately grabs my attention. I not only admire almost any author who has the "stick-to-it-ivness" and attention span to handle all the rewrites, editing, agent's comments and publishers complaints required for such massive tomes, but who has also earned the right to publish something more detailed, profound, or at least longer than the average modern novel that isn't supposed to run more than 200-250 pages. Yay authors who are able to write longer and sometimes more interesting books than what is being passed off as modern literature these days.
I guess I actually purchased 53 books, but one of them is a giant print mystery specifically for my father to read. There were very few big print books at this year's sale, rather disappointing as I was hoping to score a few for dad, but 1 book is better than none at all. I think he will enjoy this one as it takes place in Russia and he loves stories with overseas plot lines.
Oooh, it is going to be a relaxing winter of mostly "fluff" bedtime reading, but I did pick up the final W.O Mitchell novel, "For Art's Sake", plus an elderly looking volume by Farley Mowat I haven't read before. There are several other books by award winning Canadian authors in the double stack of books sitting beside my bedside table.
Before either my husband or I get started on our lot of second hand books we are going to read a book about aboriginal Saskatchewan artist Allen Sapp that is a gift from my husband's sister. Artist Sapp has an amazing painting of two farm horses in winter. The steam coming out of their nostrils and turning to frost on their faces is so real and such a marvellous memory evoker for my husband and sister; memories of growing up on the homestead in south central Alberta years ago.
We both feel good about the rather larger sum spent on books than we were figuring on. The money goes directly to the Seniors' University sponsored by the U of R. It is part of their life long learning programme and they offer excellent courses to the older set. It is a fantastic programme. I hope to take advantage of it if we are still here a year from now.
Time for my evening snack. I didn't eat much dinner tonight. I was feeling too sad for Cee and Nan and couldn't face more than the most minimal amount of food. Now I am really hungry, so better go get my blood sugar back on an even keel.
Friday, August 31, 2018
So MY Day is Better Than Yesterday, But Not So for Cee and Nan....Sigh.....
So many of you have indicated you have been praying consistently for Cee and Nan, some of you for about the past year and a half. Today the long sought for diagnosis came to light and it is rather devastating news for them.
Cee has been diagnosed with Walldenstrom macroglobulin anemia, a type of "milder, indolent lymphoma". While it is not curable, it is controllable through chemotherapy treatments, one of their worst fears in relationship to all that has gone on with Cee's health over the past nearly two years. This is a rather rare form of cancer, with less than 2000 cases diagnosed in the USA last year, even fewer in Canada. No wonder it was so hard to discover. However, the bone marrow biopsy showed its presence and in less than two weeks, Cee should be starting on the chemo/other pills. I am hoping and praying that as the course of treatment begins, Cee and Nan will discover from the medical personnel some positives involved in having this kind of slow moving cancer. (Positives/Cancer....rather an oxymoron, I realize, particularly for those who have just been diagnosed and for those who suffer horribly from cancer treatments on the way to remission.) SO, PLEASE continue to pray for these dear, dear, loving friends who have suffered so much all ready and are going to need to be very aware of God's arms around them over the coming months as treatment begins.
So, I have dry macular degeneration and services charges for an inadvertent NSF cheque. Cee has Walldenstrom's. My macular and service charges are not looking like nearly as big a deal to me today as they were yesterday.
The most difficult thing when you receive news like this from friends and family is that you know you cannot, must not, reply with a series of religious platitudes about how God does love you and that he cares, to think positively, to lean on the Lord, to remember that things could always be worse (the most insensitive and devastating comment of all), etc. etc. etc. Such responses are certainly designed to make the deliverer of them feel better and perhaps even a bit removed from the emotions involved, but they don't do much at all for the people who have received the bad news, except make them angry. Grieve with those who grieve...wise words from the Bible. I need to get better at that.
Thank you for continuing to pray for my friends. My friendship with Nan helped me get through one of the most devastating times in our lives a few years ago and how my husband and I so wish we could take this burden from them.
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As far as news around here, I got the phone call from the eyewear clinic at 10am that as soon as I paid something toward what remains of the cost of my proper lenses after the "wow, we royally screwed up" discount, the order would be sent in. I dropped everything I was doing and headed directly outside to the bus stop, actually located the fare in my change purse because it was in the proper location this time, and the bus rolled into my stop less than a minute later. Twenty minutes later everything was taken care of at the eye clinic, I stopped in at the bank to try once more to get an electronic printout of my possible bouncing cheque and found out that it should be available after September first when the August service charges are tallied, and I headed for home. My step was lighter than yesterday when I was up there. I felt happier as it dawned on me that eyeward clinic screw up discount, when combined with the little bit of insurance coverage we have, has resulted in me saving double what I was covered for by insurance alone. (See? If I can just wait until I see how things are going to turn out instead of getting all OCD immediately a problem arises, sometimes I am actually ahead of the game due to other peoples' errors!) I felt encouraged that just because life is heating up right now doesn't mean every day is going to be difficult while we seek new direction for ourselves.
As soon as I got home I hopped in the car and headed to the grocery store to take advantage of my PC points items of the week. When I tried to cash in thirty dollars worth of points at the cash register, the whole system shut down and while the cashiers were able to get things up and running again as far as putting peoples' groceries through the system, the points redemption system stayed down. No worries, with the points I earned today I will be able to redeem forty dollars toward my groceries next time. So much the better this month.
I also returned to the Big Book Sale for another bag of books. This time I left the hard covers and concentrated on the paperbacks. The hard cover books are two dollars each and the paperacks are one dollar each. It doesn't get any better than that folks. I have an entire winter's reading for well under than fifty dollars. I think there are several I can send on to Mom after I am done reading them. Tomorrow I will return one more time to pick through the leftovers on the final day of the sale....OR I will go over again during the dinner hour tonight. So far I have 30 b0oks. Another few books will keep me going easily for months and months as I usually only read at bedtime.
The sun is shining, there are some white, puffy clouds in the blue sky, the high today is about +23C and it will be the highest daytime temperature for at least a week, as we drop to a steady +19C by tomorrow. It feels a bit chilly in comparison to all the very hot days of late.
I must go and write an email to the Japanese friends who were our interpreters when we lived in Tokyo so many years ago now. Reiko needs extra prayer as well due to a recurrence of her stomach cancer that originally saw go into remission 15 years ago. She is doing well with her treatments, but the intense summer heat continues in Tokyo, with average daytime highs of +38C. With the chemo and other treatments she is not responding well to such heat. She has really suffered, in her stoic Japanese manner, for the past two years. While you are praying for Cee and Nan, a little extra prayer for Reiko and her husband Naotaka would be very much appreciated. They are accepting any and all prayers from their Chrstian brothers and sisters.
So, I have dry macular degeneration and service charges for an inadvertently bounced cheque. Reiko is suffering second round stomach cancer and horrible treatments to rein it in. While I am not relegating my own problems to the "completely unimportant" list, I am getting a better perspective once again with the onslaught of other peoples' bad news today. My OCD response to my own issues is calming down now.
Lord, you know the end from the beginning for all of us. Give us grace under pressure and courage to face the trials of our lives while not losing our trust in your love and mercy, keeping our eyes on the prize of heaven when things here on earth seem to be too much to bear. Life on earth is not the end for us, but please help us to cope with our remaining years here and the trials we will see. Until we see you face to face, Amen.
Cee has been diagnosed with Walldenstrom macroglobulin anemia, a type of "milder, indolent lymphoma". While it is not curable, it is controllable through chemotherapy treatments, one of their worst fears in relationship to all that has gone on with Cee's health over the past nearly two years. This is a rather rare form of cancer, with less than 2000 cases diagnosed in the USA last year, even fewer in Canada. No wonder it was so hard to discover. However, the bone marrow biopsy showed its presence and in less than two weeks, Cee should be starting on the chemo/other pills. I am hoping and praying that as the course of treatment begins, Cee and Nan will discover from the medical personnel some positives involved in having this kind of slow moving cancer. (Positives/Cancer....rather an oxymoron, I realize, particularly for those who have just been diagnosed and for those who suffer horribly from cancer treatments on the way to remission.) SO, PLEASE continue to pray for these dear, dear, loving friends who have suffered so much all ready and are going to need to be very aware of God's arms around them over the coming months as treatment begins.
So, I have dry macular degeneration and services charges for an inadvertent NSF cheque. Cee has Walldenstrom's. My macular and service charges are not looking like nearly as big a deal to me today as they were yesterday.
The most difficult thing when you receive news like this from friends and family is that you know you cannot, must not, reply with a series of religious platitudes about how God does love you and that he cares, to think positively, to lean on the Lord, to remember that things could always be worse (the most insensitive and devastating comment of all), etc. etc. etc. Such responses are certainly designed to make the deliverer of them feel better and perhaps even a bit removed from the emotions involved, but they don't do much at all for the people who have received the bad news, except make them angry. Grieve with those who grieve...wise words from the Bible. I need to get better at that.
Thank you for continuing to pray for my friends. My friendship with Nan helped me get through one of the most devastating times in our lives a few years ago and how my husband and I so wish we could take this burden from them.
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As far as news around here, I got the phone call from the eyewear clinic at 10am that as soon as I paid something toward what remains of the cost of my proper lenses after the "wow, we royally screwed up" discount, the order would be sent in. I dropped everything I was doing and headed directly outside to the bus stop, actually located the fare in my change purse because it was in the proper location this time, and the bus rolled into my stop less than a minute later. Twenty minutes later everything was taken care of at the eye clinic, I stopped in at the bank to try once more to get an electronic printout of my possible bouncing cheque and found out that it should be available after September first when the August service charges are tallied, and I headed for home. My step was lighter than yesterday when I was up there. I felt happier as it dawned on me that eyeward clinic screw up discount, when combined with the little bit of insurance coverage we have, has resulted in me saving double what I was covered for by insurance alone. (See? If I can just wait until I see how things are going to turn out instead of getting all OCD immediately a problem arises, sometimes I am actually ahead of the game due to other peoples' errors!) I felt encouraged that just because life is heating up right now doesn't mean every day is going to be difficult while we seek new direction for ourselves.
As soon as I got home I hopped in the car and headed to the grocery store to take advantage of my PC points items of the week. When I tried to cash in thirty dollars worth of points at the cash register, the whole system shut down and while the cashiers were able to get things up and running again as far as putting peoples' groceries through the system, the points redemption system stayed down. No worries, with the points I earned today I will be able to redeem forty dollars toward my groceries next time. So much the better this month.
I also returned to the Big Book Sale for another bag of books. This time I left the hard covers and concentrated on the paperbacks. The hard cover books are two dollars each and the paperacks are one dollar each. It doesn't get any better than that folks. I have an entire winter's reading for well under than fifty dollars. I think there are several I can send on to Mom after I am done reading them. Tomorrow I will return one more time to pick through the leftovers on the final day of the sale....OR I will go over again during the dinner hour tonight. So far I have 30 b0oks. Another few books will keep me going easily for months and months as I usually only read at bedtime.
The sun is shining, there are some white, puffy clouds in the blue sky, the high today is about +23C and it will be the highest daytime temperature for at least a week, as we drop to a steady +19C by tomorrow. It feels a bit chilly in comparison to all the very hot days of late.
I must go and write an email to the Japanese friends who were our interpreters when we lived in Tokyo so many years ago now. Reiko needs extra prayer as well due to a recurrence of her stomach cancer that originally saw go into remission 15 years ago. She is doing well with her treatments, but the intense summer heat continues in Tokyo, with average daytime highs of +38C. With the chemo and other treatments she is not responding well to such heat. She has really suffered, in her stoic Japanese manner, for the past two years. While you are praying for Cee and Nan, a little extra prayer for Reiko and her husband Naotaka would be very much appreciated. They are accepting any and all prayers from their Chrstian brothers and sisters.
So, I have dry macular degeneration and service charges for an inadvertently bounced cheque. Reiko is suffering second round stomach cancer and horrible treatments to rein it in. While I am not relegating my own problems to the "completely unimportant" list, I am getting a better perspective once again with the onslaught of other peoples' bad news today. My OCD response to my own issues is calming down now.
Lord, you know the end from the beginning for all of us. Give us grace under pressure and courage to face the trials of our lives while not losing our trust in your love and mercy, keeping our eyes on the prize of heaven when things here on earth seem to be too much to bear. Life on earth is not the end for us, but please help us to cope with our remaining years here and the trials we will see. Until we see you face to face, Amen.
Thursday, August 30, 2018
My Good Man
As I suspected, my husband is not at all upset with me about my banking error and reminded me that anyone could make a silly mistake like that, particularly at highly stressful times like we have been experiencing lately. What a great and understanding guy. Bless him!
After dinner this evening we went for a walk. We ended up at the Tartan Curling Club for the annual Big Book Sale, sponsored by the Lifelong Learning group at U of R. It is my yearly supplier of winter reading material. I purchased ten hard cover books this evening; all I could manage to carry for the walk back home, but I will return tomorrow with the car and a BIG tote bag to clean up on some paperbacks. I am sure I can find books Mom will enjoy somewhere on those many tables of books for sale.
Received a text message a few minutes ago that my husband's sister and her husband arrived safely home today in their large motorhome. Good to know they are safe after the long drive.
Yawn....today's little stresses wore me out. It is time to get to sleep for the night!!!
After dinner this evening we went for a walk. We ended up at the Tartan Curling Club for the annual Big Book Sale, sponsored by the Lifelong Learning group at U of R. It is my yearly supplier of winter reading material. I purchased ten hard cover books this evening; all I could manage to carry for the walk back home, but I will return tomorrow with the car and a BIG tote bag to clean up on some paperbacks. I am sure I can find books Mom will enjoy somewhere on those many tables of books for sale.
Received a text message a few minutes ago that my husband's sister and her husband arrived safely home today in their large motorhome. Good to know they are safe after the long drive.
Yawn....today's little stresses wore me out. It is time to get to sleep for the night!!!
I Think I Am Losing My Mind!
Today has been interesting, but not in the best ways! hohohohoho!!!
All was well this morning until I went to the bank to check and make sure the pensions and wages etc. had gone into the account and they had. So far, so good! Then I took a look at the other most recent transactions and discovered our rent cheque for September had all ready gone through the account. WHA??? How could that be? I dated the cheque for Sept. 1....hadn't I??? O crap!!
I went to the teller and asked if there was any sort of electronic record of that cheque so that he could look at the date I had put on it and see if the mistake had actually been my own. He had no such record. Apparently the bank system I deal with is no longer doing that. Thus, I have absolutely no way of knowing if I made a mistake or if that cheque cleared incorrectly. (It is likely my mistake, but why do I remember so clearly dating the cheque for the first of Sept.? See....I am losing my mind!)
I contacted our property management company but they said it will be a few more days before they receive any NSF notification and then they will put a letter in my mail box to let me know. There is no notification at the bank yet either, so I am assuming that will not show up until tomorrow, the final day of the month, or even next Tuesday after the long weekend tally of accounts. I cannot remember how much the NSF cheques cost now, but I have a feeling I am going to be out well over one hundred dollars by the time I pay the management company and the bank. Plus it will show up on our credit rating AND we will get a written, if not verbal "tongue lashing" from the management company.
I FEEL SO STUPID....and my husband's wages can ill afford to be spent this particular month on extra bank charges based upon MY stupidity.
Big, huge, sobbing, angry, discouraged sigh....dumb, dumb, dumb....sigh again...
Driving home after the banking and other running around was not a lot of fun either. The number of drivers making double lane turns, not using signal lights, driving out of sequence at four way stops and refusing to give pedestrians their right of way at marked crossings seemed to have tripled since the last time I drove in this city. It was absolute bedlam on the roads. I had to keep thinking to myself, "Hey, is it ME that just made a driving error? What on earth is going on today??"
Due to the extended time spent at the bank I realized when I got home that I didn't have time to walk up to the eye glass venue before they would be closing for the noon hour, so I opted to take the bus that would be stopping in front of my house within a matter of minutes. I walked out to the bus stop, went to take the bus fare from my change purse and....no change purse. WHA????? I knew I hadn't removed it from my big purse, so it had to have fallen out somehow from its usual pocket and landed in the bottom of my purse. The purse is rather smaller than some I carry, but do you think I could find that change purse??? Finally I located it just as the bus was pulling in. If there hadn't been another lady also waiting for the bus it would have driven right past my big fat derriere that was sticking out toward the street as I bent over the bus bench to frantically scrabble around in the bottom of my purse. Sigh.....well, here is the joy: I DID find it and got my change out just in time to hop inside the bus doors behind the other lady and put my change into the fare box. Whew...that was close.
At the eye glass venue I was assigned to a delightful young fellow, just a tad younger than my own son. He was so knowledgeable and efficient. I explained that I was having an impossible time reading and that my glasses were too tight around the ears and nose pieces. He got all that adjusted and put new, soft, silicone pads on the nose pieces. Now what about me not being able to read without pulling the glasses down to the end of my nose? Well, long story short, guess what he discovered??? I have the wrong prescription!!! The eye doctor sent in my distance prescription without including the reading component to make the lenses progressive. No wonder I can't see to read, ladies and gentlemen....I have no reading lenses!!!!! Aiiiii yiiiiii....as kind as the young man was to elderly me, I could tell he was wondering how on earth it could take me seven days to figure out my eyes were not going to adjust to the new lenses. Sigh....now I looked as stupid as I had been feeling since the banking debacle.
No wonder my new glasses were so inexpensive....that should have clued me in at the very beginning that something was wrong. I actually owe another three hundred dollars for my proper lenses, but the guy has worked a deal to give me a one hundred dollar discount because the whole problem was not my fault. I am most grateful to him for that. He was terribly embarrassed about it all. I actually understand how the mistake could have happened: my poor optometrist was having the morning from hell with that patient ahead of me who was freaking out because she had to have her first pair of glasses, wouldn't leave, was freaking out again when ordering her glasses while I had my exam and ended up passed out on the floor outside my doctor's exam room about the time I was done. Remember her from a previous blog? I suspect the doctor was more thrown by that whole incident than she came across at the time. Ergo, my prescription details got a little big messed up. Sigh.....
Now I am waiting for a phone call from the clinic to tell me the doctor has given the reading lens prescription to the eye glass venue and to come and make a downpayment on the new lenses so they can send the order to the lens grinders. Will that happen this afternoon? Tomorrow? Next week sometime? No one seems to know. (what a surprise......) I am so grateful I had enough clarity of mind left to take my old glasses with me so I could wear them home and send the whole works of frames and incorrect lenses in for a complete correction and refitting. I will keep my phone line free for this afternoon and tomorrow morning just in case I get the call. The sooner I can pay, the sooner the glasses will be ready. What a mess!
You do realize what is happening don't you? God is testing my JOY quotient. And I must say that despite the crazy, "expensive at the wrong time" kind of day it has been thus far, I am feeling pretty calm. Mostly I just feel really stupid about the rent cheque. It had to be my own fault because the chances of the bank taking a cheque several days in advance of the date written onto it are slim to none. I feel so badly about having to tell my husband I have caused us an unnecessary expense this month on top of having to have my teeth cleaned, helping out a family member in need and knowing all ready there will be several hundred dollars in extra expenses next month I am supposed to be saving for from this most recent pay cheque. Aaaaaargh....why does HE have to be made to be upset over MY stupidity? As if he wasn't under enough stress all ready....sigh....
So, yes...JOY! It is there, kind of burbling under the surface of the feelings of stupidity. I have to admit there is a certain spiritually adventurous side to me that is eager to see how God gets us through the financial disaster THIS time around! hahahaha I know my husband will listen to what happened and then will get a big grin on his face and say, "You know that God is testing your JOY quotient, don't you??" hahahaha Aiii yiiii....I do know that man well. He will be more upset for the way I feel than for the loss of money because of my error.
Here is a toast to JOY in the midst of trials large and small! AND to gratitude for not having any car accidents today in the midst of the craziness on the streets. Here is a toast the the JOY that my banking error cost us only money and not something more serious or irreplaceable.
I picked up a cheap salad at Zam's for my lunch after being at the eye glass venue. It was after noon by the time I was done there and I was too hungry to walk all the way home to eat. By the time I finished my meal I was ready for the very pleasant walk home from downtown. It felt good to be mobile again after sitting in the car for so many hours earlier this week. I
I am feeling quite grateful for friends and family and for my wonderful husband and for the fact that I have a place to live that I can pay rent on. I am grateful for having an accident free, mechanical breakdown free trip to scatter ashes. I am grateful for the sunshine, for the cooling breeze and for the lack of forest fire smoke outside today. I am grateful that later this afternoon I am going to be able to go over to the annual Big Book Sale and locate some fall and winter reading for teensy weensy dollar amounts! haha Welcome to my crazy world!
All was well this morning until I went to the bank to check and make sure the pensions and wages etc. had gone into the account and they had. So far, so good! Then I took a look at the other most recent transactions and discovered our rent cheque for September had all ready gone through the account. WHA??? How could that be? I dated the cheque for Sept. 1....hadn't I??? O crap!!
I went to the teller and asked if there was any sort of electronic record of that cheque so that he could look at the date I had put on it and see if the mistake had actually been my own. He had no such record. Apparently the bank system I deal with is no longer doing that. Thus, I have absolutely no way of knowing if I made a mistake or if that cheque cleared incorrectly. (It is likely my mistake, but why do I remember so clearly dating the cheque for the first of Sept.? See....I am losing my mind!)
I contacted our property management company but they said it will be a few more days before they receive any NSF notification and then they will put a letter in my mail box to let me know. There is no notification at the bank yet either, so I am assuming that will not show up until tomorrow, the final day of the month, or even next Tuesday after the long weekend tally of accounts. I cannot remember how much the NSF cheques cost now, but I have a feeling I am going to be out well over one hundred dollars by the time I pay the management company and the bank. Plus it will show up on our credit rating AND we will get a written, if not verbal "tongue lashing" from the management company.
I FEEL SO STUPID....and my husband's wages can ill afford to be spent this particular month on extra bank charges based upon MY stupidity.
Big, huge, sobbing, angry, discouraged sigh....dumb, dumb, dumb....sigh again...
Driving home after the banking and other running around was not a lot of fun either. The number of drivers making double lane turns, not using signal lights, driving out of sequence at four way stops and refusing to give pedestrians their right of way at marked crossings seemed to have tripled since the last time I drove in this city. It was absolute bedlam on the roads. I had to keep thinking to myself, "Hey, is it ME that just made a driving error? What on earth is going on today??"
Due to the extended time spent at the bank I realized when I got home that I didn't have time to walk up to the eye glass venue before they would be closing for the noon hour, so I opted to take the bus that would be stopping in front of my house within a matter of minutes. I walked out to the bus stop, went to take the bus fare from my change purse and....no change purse. WHA????? I knew I hadn't removed it from my big purse, so it had to have fallen out somehow from its usual pocket and landed in the bottom of my purse. The purse is rather smaller than some I carry, but do you think I could find that change purse??? Finally I located it just as the bus was pulling in. If there hadn't been another lady also waiting for the bus it would have driven right past my big fat derriere that was sticking out toward the street as I bent over the bus bench to frantically scrabble around in the bottom of my purse. Sigh.....well, here is the joy: I DID find it and got my change out just in time to hop inside the bus doors behind the other lady and put my change into the fare box. Whew...that was close.
At the eye glass venue I was assigned to a delightful young fellow, just a tad younger than my own son. He was so knowledgeable and efficient. I explained that I was having an impossible time reading and that my glasses were too tight around the ears and nose pieces. He got all that adjusted and put new, soft, silicone pads on the nose pieces. Now what about me not being able to read without pulling the glasses down to the end of my nose? Well, long story short, guess what he discovered??? I have the wrong prescription!!! The eye doctor sent in my distance prescription without including the reading component to make the lenses progressive. No wonder I can't see to read, ladies and gentlemen....I have no reading lenses!!!!! Aiiiii yiiiiii....as kind as the young man was to elderly me, I could tell he was wondering how on earth it could take me seven days to figure out my eyes were not going to adjust to the new lenses. Sigh....now I looked as stupid as I had been feeling since the banking debacle.
No wonder my new glasses were so inexpensive....that should have clued me in at the very beginning that something was wrong. I actually owe another three hundred dollars for my proper lenses, but the guy has worked a deal to give me a one hundred dollar discount because the whole problem was not my fault. I am most grateful to him for that. He was terribly embarrassed about it all. I actually understand how the mistake could have happened: my poor optometrist was having the morning from hell with that patient ahead of me who was freaking out because she had to have her first pair of glasses, wouldn't leave, was freaking out again when ordering her glasses while I had my exam and ended up passed out on the floor outside my doctor's exam room about the time I was done. Remember her from a previous blog? I suspect the doctor was more thrown by that whole incident than she came across at the time. Ergo, my prescription details got a little big messed up. Sigh.....
Now I am waiting for a phone call from the clinic to tell me the doctor has given the reading lens prescription to the eye glass venue and to come and make a downpayment on the new lenses so they can send the order to the lens grinders. Will that happen this afternoon? Tomorrow? Next week sometime? No one seems to know. (what a surprise......) I am so grateful I had enough clarity of mind left to take my old glasses with me so I could wear them home and send the whole works of frames and incorrect lenses in for a complete correction and refitting. I will keep my phone line free for this afternoon and tomorrow morning just in case I get the call. The sooner I can pay, the sooner the glasses will be ready. What a mess!
You do realize what is happening don't you? God is testing my JOY quotient. And I must say that despite the crazy, "expensive at the wrong time" kind of day it has been thus far, I am feeling pretty calm. Mostly I just feel really stupid about the rent cheque. It had to be my own fault because the chances of the bank taking a cheque several days in advance of the date written onto it are slim to none. I feel so badly about having to tell my husband I have caused us an unnecessary expense this month on top of having to have my teeth cleaned, helping out a family member in need and knowing all ready there will be several hundred dollars in extra expenses next month I am supposed to be saving for from this most recent pay cheque. Aaaaaargh....why does HE have to be made to be upset over MY stupidity? As if he wasn't under enough stress all ready....sigh....
So, yes...JOY! It is there, kind of burbling under the surface of the feelings of stupidity. I have to admit there is a certain spiritually adventurous side to me that is eager to see how God gets us through the financial disaster THIS time around! hahahaha I know my husband will listen to what happened and then will get a big grin on his face and say, "You know that God is testing your JOY quotient, don't you??" hahahaha Aiii yiiii....I do know that man well. He will be more upset for the way I feel than for the loss of money because of my error.
Here is a toast to JOY in the midst of trials large and small! AND to gratitude for not having any car accidents today in the midst of the craziness on the streets. Here is a toast the the JOY that my banking error cost us only money and not something more serious or irreplaceable.
I picked up a cheap salad at Zam's for my lunch after being at the eye glass venue. It was after noon by the time I was done there and I was too hungry to walk all the way home to eat. By the time I finished my meal I was ready for the very pleasant walk home from downtown. It felt good to be mobile again after sitting in the car for so many hours earlier this week. I
I am feeling quite grateful for friends and family and for my wonderful husband and for the fact that I have a place to live that I can pay rent on. I am grateful for having an accident free, mechanical breakdown free trip to scatter ashes. I am grateful for the sunshine, for the cooling breeze and for the lack of forest fire smoke outside today. I am grateful that later this afternoon I am going to be able to go over to the annual Big Book Sale and locate some fall and winter reading for teensy weensy dollar amounts! haha Welcome to my crazy world!
Hither, Thither and Yon
Spending hours in a vehicle has started to exhaust me. Today I am completely wiped out after our little foray into central Saskatchewan, but the trip was a very good one.
On the way to Saskatoon we were most blessed to be caught up in the road construction delay at Chamberlain for only about 15 minutes. All last weekend the delays were an hour or more in each direction and it was quite a fiasco as there was no warning that such delays were happening. Although the project is being shut down for the long weekend to avoid another series of such long delays, before and after the long weekend if you are travelling between Saskatoon and Regina, I would suggest you drive the extra 40km by either heading up north to highway 16, or dropping south to the Trans Canaada Highway 1. The time taken to do that could still be less than the time lost to various road construction projects along the main connector between the two cities, Highway 11. Immediately south of Saskatoon there is a long haul of road paving that sees a stretch of about 20km with a top posted speed of 60km. There are three or four other fairly long stretches of paving project between Hanley and Chamberlain, then another one at Lumsden as well. It took us a LONG time to get home even in the light traffic that we had yesterday afternoon. Diddle, diddle, diddle.....yuck!!
The time we spent in central SK went very well. We had an excellent visit with my husband's sister and her husband as we spent a day driving from Saskatoon to Phippen, to Adanac, to Atton's Lake, through the Battlefords and back to the river bank in Saskatoon, saying prayers of commital and scattering ashes as we went. Mom and Uncle are now overlooking some of the most beloved spots of their childhood and growing up years. The weather was perfect, the forest fire smoke dissipated for the whole day, we shared memories of the deceased, we toasted their lives at Finn's Pub back in Saskatoon after our long day....yes, it was a very meaningful time together. Finn's is just the sort of place both Mom and Uncle would have enjoyed having their evening beer and dinner, so that was a good way to end the long day. Despite the amount of driving, the time was relaxed and the break away was very helpful to my husband, despite being on the phone half the time dealing with issues at work. I think he will be grateful when his time as Commissary ends next week and the Bishop will take over his own duties once again. It has been a pretty crazy month.
So, back to work today. It seems like a "punishment" after our nearly three days in a wonderful hotel. hahaha My husband is up and at it all ready at 6:30am, so I better go and prepare his lunch to take to the office. Looking forward to a pleasant day of about +24C, getting my glasses adjusted better to my face and vision, doing the usual pay day chores and getting a good long walk out of the whole deal! That's the way to spend the first day back home after a nice trip: get out of the suite for almost the entire day! haha
On the way to Saskatoon we were most blessed to be caught up in the road construction delay at Chamberlain for only about 15 minutes. All last weekend the delays were an hour or more in each direction and it was quite a fiasco as there was no warning that such delays were happening. Although the project is being shut down for the long weekend to avoid another series of such long delays, before and after the long weekend if you are travelling between Saskatoon and Regina, I would suggest you drive the extra 40km by either heading up north to highway 16, or dropping south to the Trans Canaada Highway 1. The time taken to do that could still be less than the time lost to various road construction projects along the main connector between the two cities, Highway 11. Immediately south of Saskatoon there is a long haul of road paving that sees a stretch of about 20km with a top posted speed of 60km. There are three or four other fairly long stretches of paving project between Hanley and Chamberlain, then another one at Lumsden as well. It took us a LONG time to get home even in the light traffic that we had yesterday afternoon. Diddle, diddle, diddle.....yuck!!
The time we spent in central SK went very well. We had an excellent visit with my husband's sister and her husband as we spent a day driving from Saskatoon to Phippen, to Adanac, to Atton's Lake, through the Battlefords and back to the river bank in Saskatoon, saying prayers of commital and scattering ashes as we went. Mom and Uncle are now overlooking some of the most beloved spots of their childhood and growing up years. The weather was perfect, the forest fire smoke dissipated for the whole day, we shared memories of the deceased, we toasted their lives at Finn's Pub back in Saskatoon after our long day....yes, it was a very meaningful time together. Finn's is just the sort of place both Mom and Uncle would have enjoyed having their evening beer and dinner, so that was a good way to end the long day. Despite the amount of driving, the time was relaxed and the break away was very helpful to my husband, despite being on the phone half the time dealing with issues at work. I think he will be grateful when his time as Commissary ends next week and the Bishop will take over his own duties once again. It has been a pretty crazy month.
So, back to work today. It seems like a "punishment" after our nearly three days in a wonderful hotel. hahaha My husband is up and at it all ready at 6:30am, so I better go and prepare his lunch to take to the office. Looking forward to a pleasant day of about +24C, getting my glasses adjusted better to my face and vision, doing the usual pay day chores and getting a good long walk out of the whole deal! That's the way to spend the first day back home after a nice trip: get out of the suite for almost the entire day! haha
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Yummy and Cheap!
Last night the four of us ate dinner at Mano’s brew pub on 22nd street here in Saskatoon. (not to be confused with the lovely Mano’s Restaurant on 8th)
It is typical of the odd restaurants in that older area of the city: panhandling and drug deals happening outside; inexpensive delicious meals happening inside. The avegolemono soup is absolutely wonderful with no skimping on the lemon flavour. My chicken Caesar salad had a wonderful oil based dressing instead of the creamy, fatty slop dressing I am used to. The medium rare steak was actually medium rare and the baked potato cooked properly all the way through. The veggies were slightly el dente, neither mushy nor tooth breaking, the souvlaki and rice pilaf very tasty. The prices seemed to average a good five dollars or more per plate less than places we eat at regularly with similar quality meals. My five dollar dessert turned out to be a ten dollar sized piece of chocolate and vanilla cheesecake with almonds and walnuts. At that price I didn’t mind leaving half of it on my plate. No, I didn’t bring the rest back to the hotel as I didn’t want to tempt myself later and my husband is not a chocolate lover. Yesterday was such a perfect day for carb amounts that I didn’t want to ruin it. I am delighted by my body’s response to the return to far less food in general, so plan to stick to veggie soups and salads as we travel today since there will be little chance for exercise.
Today is the big drive around north central SK for ashes scattering. I am a bit concerned by the late start the rest of the family insisted upon, but I suspect we would all be exhausted by the day’s drive no matter what time it got under way. My husband is diligently responding to work email this morning. This is day off number two where every possible moment is spent working. He will be glad to see the end of his Commissary duties when the Bishop returns to work next week.
Okay.....what else? O yes, Cee and Nan may be within days of finally getting an actual diagnosis for Cee’s condition after nearly two years of illness. DeeDee has her initial cancer tests today. Thanks ever so much for praying for these wonderful friends.
Onward into a second chilly day in a row. The bears in the western national parks are all ready stocking up on berries etc. for winter hibernation. Poop! An early winter???
It is typical of the odd restaurants in that older area of the city: panhandling and drug deals happening outside; inexpensive delicious meals happening inside. The avegolemono soup is absolutely wonderful with no skimping on the lemon flavour. My chicken Caesar salad had a wonderful oil based dressing instead of the creamy, fatty slop dressing I am used to. The medium rare steak was actually medium rare and the baked potato cooked properly all the way through. The veggies were slightly el dente, neither mushy nor tooth breaking, the souvlaki and rice pilaf very tasty. The prices seemed to average a good five dollars or more per plate less than places we eat at regularly with similar quality meals. My five dollar dessert turned out to be a ten dollar sized piece of chocolate and vanilla cheesecake with almonds and walnuts. At that price I didn’t mind leaving half of it on my plate. No, I didn’t bring the rest back to the hotel as I didn’t want to tempt myself later and my husband is not a chocolate lover. Yesterday was such a perfect day for carb amounts that I didn’t want to ruin it. I am delighted by my body’s response to the return to far less food in general, so plan to stick to veggie soups and salads as we travel today since there will be little chance for exercise.
Today is the big drive around north central SK for ashes scattering. I am a bit concerned by the late start the rest of the family insisted upon, but I suspect we would all be exhausted by the day’s drive no matter what time it got under way. My husband is diligently responding to work email this morning. This is day off number two where every possible moment is spent working. He will be glad to see the end of his Commissary duties when the Bishop returns to work next week.
Okay.....what else? O yes, Cee and Nan may be within days of finally getting an actual diagnosis for Cee’s condition after nearly two years of illness. DeeDee has her initial cancer tests today. Thanks ever so much for praying for these wonderful friends.
Onward into a second chilly day in a row. The bears in the western national parks are all ready stocking up on berries etc. for winter hibernation. Poop! An early winter???
Monday, August 27, 2018
Niiiiiiiice!!!!!!
We are checked into the Towne Marriott. It is a king suite and it is niiiiiiice indeed! There is a cute kitchen area with a two burner stove top, a full sized refrigerator, pots and other cooking utensils and full dishes settings for four. Too bad we aren’t staying long enough to do real cooking. We have a comfy couch, several tabletops for electronics use, a huge tv and a luxurious bathroom. The closet storage is well organized with lots of room. It is CLEAN in this room. I am happy, happy, happy! The rate for all this niiiiice “stuff” is most reasonable so my husband is happy, happy, happy too!
In an hour we will drive to the campground to pick up my husband’s family and we will go for dinner together, plan tomorrow’s driving route and get caught up on family news. Really looking forward to this break away from home.
My husband spent half his day off today on his computer and cell as there were several issues that had to be dealt with while he is still Commissary. It is only a couple of hours’ drive here and he spent most of it on the phone. Now he is having a relaxing pre-prandial nap.
When we get home, sadly, I am going to have to return my new glasses to the eye clinic and see what is wrong with the whole set up. My distance vision is great at all times, but I can only see to read if I push them way down on my nose and look through the middle of the lens. What is the point of keeping my progressives if I have to do that? Rats! I am sure this problem can be solved one way or another and I still have my old pair of glasses, which will be adequate if the new ones have to be sent away to be fixed. I can’t complain about this inconvenience as it is the first time in my 55 years of wearing glasses that there has ever been a problem. If this is the greatest problem in my life at present, I am blessed indeed!
Mom and Dad phoned this morning to announce that after a wait time of several years, their facility management is finally building a proper kitchen so they can have their own chef. In a few months/weeks(?) the meals will no longer have to be cooked in another facility far away and transported for miles, arriving limp, dried out, barely edible. Now my prayer is that this will not be an excuse to raise the rental fees sky high for the tenants next year. My parents are over paying as it is for what they get. Well, at least if they go broke before they die, they will have eaten well! Finally!
My husband is awake again. He must be relaxing because he is making tea. haha
Hope the forest fire smoke doesn’t get any worse here by tomorrow than it is presently or I will be stuck here at the hotel all day while the rest of the family takes care of mom and uncle. An asthmatic person will not add anything positive to their day.
In an hour we will drive to the campground to pick up my husband’s family and we will go for dinner together, plan tomorrow’s driving route and get caught up on family news. Really looking forward to this break away from home.
My husband spent half his day off today on his computer and cell as there were several issues that had to be dealt with while he is still Commissary. It is only a couple of hours’ drive here and he spent most of it on the phone. Now he is having a relaxing pre-prandial nap.
When we get home, sadly, I am going to have to return my new glasses to the eye clinic and see what is wrong with the whole set up. My distance vision is great at all times, but I can only see to read if I push them way down on my nose and look through the middle of the lens. What is the point of keeping my progressives if I have to do that? Rats! I am sure this problem can be solved one way or another and I still have my old pair of glasses, which will be adequate if the new ones have to be sent away to be fixed. I can’t complain about this inconvenience as it is the first time in my 55 years of wearing glasses that there has ever been a problem. If this is the greatest problem in my life at present, I am blessed indeed!
Mom and Dad phoned this morning to announce that after a wait time of several years, their facility management is finally building a proper kitchen so they can have their own chef. In a few months/weeks(?) the meals will no longer have to be cooked in another facility far away and transported for miles, arriving limp, dried out, barely edible. Now my prayer is that this will not be an excuse to raise the rental fees sky high for the tenants next year. My parents are over paying as it is for what they get. Well, at least if they go broke before they die, they will have eaten well! Finally!
My husband is awake again. He must be relaxing because he is making tea. haha
Hope the forest fire smoke doesn’t get any worse here by tomorrow than it is presently or I will be stuck here at the hotel all day while the rest of the family takes care of mom and uncle. An asthmatic person will not add anything positive to their day.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Baby, It's COLD OUTSIDE!!
Brrrrr....chatter, chatter, chatter....yikes, after several weeks of temperatures averaging in the +30C range, today's high of +16C and cold rains are quite a shock to the system!! Trying not to start thinking of the onset of another winter on a day like this is next to impossible, but I am trying very hard to ignore the whole season until it happens!
It seemed so odd to have to drive to church this morning. I am trying not to dread having to take a vehicle every Sunday, be it car or bus, once it is icy on the streets again. Obviously I am failing miserably. hahaha
The service was so good again today. The pastor gave his second last sermon of the summer series on Revelation. Today we got the "good news" from Revelation 22 and 23. Next week will be the "bad news". I am realizing the sermons at this church are actually a bit long, but they are so interesting it has taken me four months to figure that out. It is nice to have a sermon my husband can enjoy listening to rather than some seven to ten minute homily that doesn't say much about anything theological, or has insufficient time to develop a really good theological premise. If I can't listen to my husband preaching on Sunday mornings very often, at least the sermons I am hearing instead are almost as good as his are. It was wonderful to have my husband with me this morning.
He was able to come before he went into work for the afternoon. Lots of work to complete so that he can take a past due day off this week and have some relaxation along with the family business that will be happening. He and I are both grateful for the present forecast that says the rain will end in time for the four of us to make our long drive on dry roads and without having the added discomfort of standing about outside in cold rain to scatter ashes.
I suspect my husband will not be home in time for us to attend the patio party at the Baptist seniors' lodge this evening. That is disappointing, but he is tired enough that perhaps it is working out for the best. We had to turn down a spontaneous invitation to go out for lunch after church this morning, but with the dread of his work today, that too was likely the best thing, as being able to fellowship freely with our new friends would have been difficult at best for him.
Getting out of here for a couple of days will be really good for both of us. Seeing family will be a lot of fun and scattering the ashes of their relatives will bring some emotional closure after the losses.
Getting out of here....hmmmm....I am thinking I need to do some packing and get some breakfast and snack foods prepared for our journey.
It seemed so odd to have to drive to church this morning. I am trying not to dread having to take a vehicle every Sunday, be it car or bus, once it is icy on the streets again. Obviously I am failing miserably. hahaha
The service was so good again today. The pastor gave his second last sermon of the summer series on Revelation. Today we got the "good news" from Revelation 22 and 23. Next week will be the "bad news". I am realizing the sermons at this church are actually a bit long, but they are so interesting it has taken me four months to figure that out. It is nice to have a sermon my husband can enjoy listening to rather than some seven to ten minute homily that doesn't say much about anything theological, or has insufficient time to develop a really good theological premise. If I can't listen to my husband preaching on Sunday mornings very often, at least the sermons I am hearing instead are almost as good as his are. It was wonderful to have my husband with me this morning.
He was able to come before he went into work for the afternoon. Lots of work to complete so that he can take a past due day off this week and have some relaxation along with the family business that will be happening. He and I are both grateful for the present forecast that says the rain will end in time for the four of us to make our long drive on dry roads and without having the added discomfort of standing about outside in cold rain to scatter ashes.
I suspect my husband will not be home in time for us to attend the patio party at the Baptist seniors' lodge this evening. That is disappointing, but he is tired enough that perhaps it is working out for the best. We had to turn down a spontaneous invitation to go out for lunch after church this morning, but with the dread of his work today, that too was likely the best thing, as being able to fellowship freely with our new friends would have been difficult at best for him.
Getting out of here for a couple of days will be really good for both of us. Seeing family will be a lot of fun and scattering the ashes of their relatives will bring some emotional closure after the losses.
Getting out of here....hmmmm....I am thinking I need to do some packing and get some breakfast and snack foods prepared for our journey.
Saturday, August 25, 2018
A Pretty Happy Saturday
It is very nice to finally spend a Saturday doing something other than laundry! Not that I am doing anything particularly fantastic, but at least today is a change of pace from the usual Saturday drudge while my husband is at work.
Today he is home...well, his body is, but his mind has been asleep since he returned from work yesterday evening. It has been a most stressful couple of weeks at work and he is completely exhausted. I am so grateful he was able to take today off before returning to the office after church tomorrow morning. Poor guy....I wish he could spend his 2 days off upcoming sleeping instead of heading to Saskatoon and areas north, but at least he will get to see his sister and brother in law. That will be a really encouraging and happy event for him. He has booked us into a King suite in a lovely hotel and gotten a decent rate for it for the two nights. It will be a nice place to bring his family for evening visits between drives for the scattering of ashes. Today my husband has made it from the basement to the main floor and twice upstairs and down before falling asleep on the living room couch for the afternoon. He is SO tired it is almost kind of funny.
I had a nice relaxed morning visiting with him, then after some emails and lunch, I headed to the downtown library to pick up a book he had reserved. He is refreshing his memory of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World Revisited". It seems he is running into Perennials passing themselves off as Christians everywhere he goes. Quite interesting.......... So, he wants to refresh himself. He was familiar with the whole concept back in his "old hippy" days but rejected it after an encounter with Christ.
It was good to get outside for such a long walk on a day with much cooler temperatures. Today it is only +20C. The forest fire smoke has dissipated for the time being and the bit of cloud cover is blocking the warmer rays of the sun. It felt so good to be out striding along, zig zagging from street to street along the way. I crossed through a beautiful little park and on the way home took a moment to sit down on one of the benches and rest the thigh muscles that started nagging me again yesterday with stiffness and aching. Now what?
Made some plans for having new friends in for dinner on the September long weekend. We have been to their home all ready and it is quite a palace. He is an architect and wow, he has done amazing things to what was once an older home. He has restored and rebuilt it to the point of being nearly new. It is beeeeautiful! They are a lovely couple who will not be freaked out at our rather less substantial habitation. hahaha
I won't be able to go because of our trip to S'toon, but I was so happy to receive an invitation to a birthday party dinner from a younger gal I met at the book club meeting a week ago. How kind is that? She barely knows me. I put a card together for her and will deliver it to her at church in the morning.
Received a notice today of some of the upcoming events this autumn for the local Anglican churches as they make a serious attempt to renew or restore or rebuild....I pray for success for them. A couple of the more energetic clergy have finally discovered the reasoning behind small groups and why they are a serious assistance to church growth. Now I pray they can somehow inspire the people of an entire denomination here in the city who mostly have no clue about how small groups can revolutionize their own spiritual lives and the life of the church...I can't help wondering how many will care enough to participate at this point, but then I tend to be very cynical at the best of times about most things. May God prove me wrong in my cynicism.
Well.....only about 7 hours to fill before it will be time to go to bed for the night. Maybe doing some laundry will be okay after all if the noise of the machines and my traipsing up and down all the stairs doesn't irritate my exhausted husband. Hmmmm..... OR maybe, after several poor nights of sleep, I could have a nap of my own!
Today he is home...well, his body is, but his mind has been asleep since he returned from work yesterday evening. It has been a most stressful couple of weeks at work and he is completely exhausted. I am so grateful he was able to take today off before returning to the office after church tomorrow morning. Poor guy....I wish he could spend his 2 days off upcoming sleeping instead of heading to Saskatoon and areas north, but at least he will get to see his sister and brother in law. That will be a really encouraging and happy event for him. He has booked us into a King suite in a lovely hotel and gotten a decent rate for it for the two nights. It will be a nice place to bring his family for evening visits between drives for the scattering of ashes. Today my husband has made it from the basement to the main floor and twice upstairs and down before falling asleep on the living room couch for the afternoon. He is SO tired it is almost kind of funny.
I had a nice relaxed morning visiting with him, then after some emails and lunch, I headed to the downtown library to pick up a book he had reserved. He is refreshing his memory of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World Revisited". It seems he is running into Perennials passing themselves off as Christians everywhere he goes. Quite interesting.......... So, he wants to refresh himself. He was familiar with the whole concept back in his "old hippy" days but rejected it after an encounter with Christ.
It was good to get outside for such a long walk on a day with much cooler temperatures. Today it is only +20C. The forest fire smoke has dissipated for the time being and the bit of cloud cover is blocking the warmer rays of the sun. It felt so good to be out striding along, zig zagging from street to street along the way. I crossed through a beautiful little park and on the way home took a moment to sit down on one of the benches and rest the thigh muscles that started nagging me again yesterday with stiffness and aching. Now what?
Made some plans for having new friends in for dinner on the September long weekend. We have been to their home all ready and it is quite a palace. He is an architect and wow, he has done amazing things to what was once an older home. He has restored and rebuilt it to the point of being nearly new. It is beeeeautiful! They are a lovely couple who will not be freaked out at our rather less substantial habitation. hahaha
I won't be able to go because of our trip to S'toon, but I was so happy to receive an invitation to a birthday party dinner from a younger gal I met at the book club meeting a week ago. How kind is that? She barely knows me. I put a card together for her and will deliver it to her at church in the morning.
Received a notice today of some of the upcoming events this autumn for the local Anglican churches as they make a serious attempt to renew or restore or rebuild....I pray for success for them. A couple of the more energetic clergy have finally discovered the reasoning behind small groups and why they are a serious assistance to church growth. Now I pray they can somehow inspire the people of an entire denomination here in the city who mostly have no clue about how small groups can revolutionize their own spiritual lives and the life of the church...I can't help wondering how many will care enough to participate at this point, but then I tend to be very cynical at the best of times about most things. May God prove me wrong in my cynicism.
Well.....only about 7 hours to fill before it will be time to go to bed for the night. Maybe doing some laundry will be okay after all if the noise of the machines and my traipsing up and down all the stairs doesn't irritate my exhausted husband. Hmmmm..... OR maybe, after several poor nights of sleep, I could have a nap of my own!
Friday, August 24, 2018
Bye Bye Favourite Chicken Caesar Salad....Waaaaaahhhhhh!!!
My husband and I drove over to Canadian Tire this evening. On the way into the parking lot we noticed there were no lights on at the Swiss Chalet next door. Seemed a bit unusual for a Friday night. Then we noticed there were no cars parked in front of the restaurant. Hmmmm....so, out of curiosity we drove over to have a lookee see. In the window was a large sign that said, "This Store Is No Longer Open."
Just like that, another chain restaurant franchise here bites the dust. Whether it was a case of mismanagement, general loss of sales due to the overall economy, or a result of the enforced new rise in the minimum wage, I will no longer be able to get my favourite chicken caesar salad here in Regina. Sigh.....
The price was right. The amount of broiled chicken was huge. The size of the bowl of lettuce with its smattering of croutons and slivered parmesan cheese was gigantic and always fresh. The dressing came on the side upon request and a darned lot of it too. Double sigh.....
I am disappointed to see yet another business closure in our city. We seem to be going backward. Ten years ago when we lived outside the city it was nearly impossible to find an authentic ethnic restaurant of any kind and almost as impossible to find any restaurant other than the drive in chains open on a Sunday or long weekend Monday. Now we have finally arrived in the 21st century as far as our restaurant scene and the trend is suddenly reversing itself. Triple sigh......
I realize Swiss Chalet is hardly gourmet fare, but in recent years the quality and selection had at least risen to standard family restaurant quality and the prices remained relatively low. The food was at least still better than Smittys!
Of course in a time of poor economics, the chain restaurants are generally the first to have to close their doors. Their franchises still doing a booming business will be the only ones kept open. However, I am certainly going to miss my low priced, low calorie, fresh and delicious salad with its massive amount of chicken. Waaaaaahhhhh!!
Just like that, another chain restaurant franchise here bites the dust. Whether it was a case of mismanagement, general loss of sales due to the overall economy, or a result of the enforced new rise in the minimum wage, I will no longer be able to get my favourite chicken caesar salad here in Regina. Sigh.....
The price was right. The amount of broiled chicken was huge. The size of the bowl of lettuce with its smattering of croutons and slivered parmesan cheese was gigantic and always fresh. The dressing came on the side upon request and a darned lot of it too. Double sigh.....
I am disappointed to see yet another business closure in our city. We seem to be going backward. Ten years ago when we lived outside the city it was nearly impossible to find an authentic ethnic restaurant of any kind and almost as impossible to find any restaurant other than the drive in chains open on a Sunday or long weekend Monday. Now we have finally arrived in the 21st century as far as our restaurant scene and the trend is suddenly reversing itself. Triple sigh......
I realize Swiss Chalet is hardly gourmet fare, but in recent years the quality and selection had at least risen to standard family restaurant quality and the prices remained relatively low. The food was at least still better than Smittys!
Of course in a time of poor economics, the chain restaurants are generally the first to have to close their doors. Their franchises still doing a booming business will be the only ones kept open. However, I am certainly going to miss my low priced, low calorie, fresh and delicious salad with its massive amount of chicken. Waaaaaahhhhh!!
New Specs!
I spent the morning giving the bedrooms a thorough cleaning. After lunch I was wondering what to do with myself that did not include sitting around gaining more weight through lack of exercise, when a text message arrived from the eyewear clinic to tell me my new glasses were ready. YAY! The bit of forest fire smoke haze in the sky was just enough to block the worst heat of the sun, so away I went for a good long walk to get the glasses.
The poor tech had a heck of a time getting them centered on my face and comfortable, so they have been bent every which way to make them sit properly...the problem I always have with a new pair of glasses for some reason....but eventually we reached what seemed to be the most secure and comfortable fit. I am certain that next week I will be going in again to have them readjusted, like I always need to, but I am glad to have the big gouge in my previous lens out of my line of vision at last. Now I have to be very careful not to pull any more Venetian blinds down on myself and preserve the new lenses.
I am delighted with a change the optical company made in the frame. The magenta pair I ordered turned out to not be available and won't be for some time, so they opted to try a deep maroon verging on purple colour instead. It is a far more suitable colour for someone my age but I still get the fun of having the more "modern" large sized lenses. (haha, the old has become new again, right?) I always preferred a larger frame on my face and these are just right in my opinion. Anyway, I didn't wear them home, but have been wearing them here to watch tv and do some reading in the attempt to get my eyes adjusted to the minor change in prescription and the huge change in the placement of each progression in the lenses now that the size and shape are so different from the last ones. I think it is going to take me a few days, although I am all ready reading fine print better than I was a couple of hours ago...yay! I so enjoy getting a change of "face". I will have to wear a bit more eye makeup with these larger lenses as at the moment my pale face is a bit too bland with only the bare minimum of mascara and light coloured eye liner. More fun to be had!
My husband took a big step today toward our future.....more on that in another couple of weeks, but those of you who pray, well, I would really appreciate your prayers as God brings us to mind. Thank you.
Aaaaah, life is heating up in all kinds of ways....and I will look fresher as I face it with my new spectacles! hahaha
The poor tech had a heck of a time getting them centered on my face and comfortable, so they have been bent every which way to make them sit properly...the problem I always have with a new pair of glasses for some reason....but eventually we reached what seemed to be the most secure and comfortable fit. I am certain that next week I will be going in again to have them readjusted, like I always need to, but I am glad to have the big gouge in my previous lens out of my line of vision at last. Now I have to be very careful not to pull any more Venetian blinds down on myself and preserve the new lenses.
I am delighted with a change the optical company made in the frame. The magenta pair I ordered turned out to not be available and won't be for some time, so they opted to try a deep maroon verging on purple colour instead. It is a far more suitable colour for someone my age but I still get the fun of having the more "modern" large sized lenses. (haha, the old has become new again, right?) I always preferred a larger frame on my face and these are just right in my opinion. Anyway, I didn't wear them home, but have been wearing them here to watch tv and do some reading in the attempt to get my eyes adjusted to the minor change in prescription and the huge change in the placement of each progression in the lenses now that the size and shape are so different from the last ones. I think it is going to take me a few days, although I am all ready reading fine print better than I was a couple of hours ago...yay! I so enjoy getting a change of "face". I will have to wear a bit more eye makeup with these larger lenses as at the moment my pale face is a bit too bland with only the bare minimum of mascara and light coloured eye liner. More fun to be had!
My husband took a big step today toward our future.....more on that in another couple of weeks, but those of you who pray, well, I would really appreciate your prayers as God brings us to mind. Thank you.
Aaaaah, life is heating up in all kinds of ways....and I will look fresher as I face it with my new spectacles! hahaha
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Out and About
Really looking forward to going for a walk with a friend this morning.
I spent yesterday getting caught up on house chores and talking to other family members who have macular degeneration. They were helpful and encouraging. I had a better sleep last night. I have had a couple of days to absorb the news, give thanks that I have been able to see well since getting my first pair of glasses at the age of nine and be joyful I have not suffered the way so many others on this earth have suffered from life long or earlier onset blindness. God has been merciful to me in the area of health while I have been aging and dealing with chronic conditions. Thank you to my family and friends for your messages of support and your assurances of prayers as I adjust to having yet another chronic medical condition to deal with. That kind of support gets me over the fear a lot faster. Bless you all!
One of the things, well the main thing actually, that has kept us thinking we should stay in Regina for the long term has been the level of medical care we have been blessed to find. Not everyone we meet here has been as fortunate it seems. Lately though a few incidents have left me wondering....if my medical support begins to crumble it would certainly give me more freedom to consider locating elsewhere in the future....hmmmm....without becoming too analytical over small details, perhaps I need to re-examine my desire to be more firmly rooted here....I have a few months until the end of our rental agreement but at that time perhaps some other doors will be open for us. Emotionally I seem to have begun moving slowly from the fear of possible change, to the acceptance of the possibility of upcoming changes, to just the merest glimmer of excitement that we could be making changes. Life is soon to be one more interesting, that is for sure. My husband certainly needs prayer about new direction in his life.
This should be a quieter weekend as far as activities. Since we have a couple of days of intense driving next week, I am grateful for a break in the action. (at least until I get bored, haha). I am looking forward to seeing my husband’s sister and her husband and it will be good to finally deliver their mom’s ashes to their final destinations. We are staying in a nice hotel for two nights, always a treat for me. I am looking forward to my husband being able to attend church with me on Sunday morning. Hopefully we can attend the evening patio party. We are both wishing we didn’t have to miss next week’s O.T. Discussion group though, despite looking forward to the short break away. My husband and the group leader are “two folks” when it comes to a fascination with the Old Testament texts, and her comment to him when he told her we would be absent next week was, “How can you do this to us?”. haha My husband just glowed to be so appreciated. haha
Time to get out of bed and get moving. Time to get fed and dressed, prepare my husband’s work lunch and locate my walking shoes for this morning’s trek around the lake. Two more hot days are forecast before a rather abrupt cooling with some rain showers a possibility next week.
I spent yesterday getting caught up on house chores and talking to other family members who have macular degeneration. They were helpful and encouraging. I had a better sleep last night. I have had a couple of days to absorb the news, give thanks that I have been able to see well since getting my first pair of glasses at the age of nine and be joyful I have not suffered the way so many others on this earth have suffered from life long or earlier onset blindness. God has been merciful to me in the area of health while I have been aging and dealing with chronic conditions. Thank you to my family and friends for your messages of support and your assurances of prayers as I adjust to having yet another chronic medical condition to deal with. That kind of support gets me over the fear a lot faster. Bless you all!
One of the things, well the main thing actually, that has kept us thinking we should stay in Regina for the long term has been the level of medical care we have been blessed to find. Not everyone we meet here has been as fortunate it seems. Lately though a few incidents have left me wondering....if my medical support begins to crumble it would certainly give me more freedom to consider locating elsewhere in the future....hmmmm....without becoming too analytical over small details, perhaps I need to re-examine my desire to be more firmly rooted here....I have a few months until the end of our rental agreement but at that time perhaps some other doors will be open for us. Emotionally I seem to have begun moving slowly from the fear of possible change, to the acceptance of the possibility of upcoming changes, to just the merest glimmer of excitement that we could be making changes. Life is soon to be one more interesting, that is for sure. My husband certainly needs prayer about new direction in his life.
This should be a quieter weekend as far as activities. Since we have a couple of days of intense driving next week, I am grateful for a break in the action. (at least until I get bored, haha). I am looking forward to seeing my husband’s sister and her husband and it will be good to finally deliver their mom’s ashes to their final destinations. We are staying in a nice hotel for two nights, always a treat for me. I am looking forward to my husband being able to attend church with me on Sunday morning. Hopefully we can attend the evening patio party. We are both wishing we didn’t have to miss next week’s O.T. Discussion group though, despite looking forward to the short break away. My husband and the group leader are “two folks” when it comes to a fascination with the Old Testament texts, and her comment to him when he told her we would be absent next week was, “How can you do this to us?”. haha My husband just glowed to be so appreciated. haha
Time to get out of bed and get moving. Time to get fed and dressed, prepare my husband’s work lunch and locate my walking shoes for this morning’s trek around the lake. Two more hot days are forecast before a rather abrupt cooling with some rain showers a possibility next week.
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Hope My Bone Densitometry Results Are Better Than My Eye Results Turned Out To Be Today
I admit I am struggling a bit with the diagnosis I received today at the eye doctor, even though it was not totally unexpected. Sigh.... I have early onset dry macular degeneration in both eyes, in the earliest stage fortunately and, also fortunately, it tends to progess more slowly than the wet macular does. The little drusen deposits under my retinas are not in the centre core of my vision either, but off to the sides, so that is another bonus for me. When it reaches a more intermediate stage there are vitamin regimens that can help to slow down the degenaration, but there is no cure. It is very common in people over the age of 65, so I have been diagnosed a bit earlier than usual. My father has had it for many years and in the past few years it has progressed to the more frightening wet macular, so he is nearly blind at this point. Dad is 91 and was originally diagnosed in his late 70's, so I have hope that I will be okay for a few more years before hitting even the more moderate stage. The optometrist was very good at telling me what signs to look for that it may be progressing, but unless I develop other vision problems I don't need to come back for another check up for a whole year. In my case the diabetes could definitely be involved in the disease starting earlier than usual, but no one knows for sure what causes the macula of the retina to start thinning out. As of today I am praying my son can escape this often hereditary eye disease.
I admit I am grateful I had a half hour walk home from the appointment so I could process my feelings a bit before I had to tell my husband. He is feeling weak and miserable today from his 14 hour cholesterol test fasting, but I am pretty sure it is because he is suffering from the loss of morning caffeine in his tea. He starts and ends every day with one of his many teas and has I don't know how many cups throughout the day. Withdrawing from caffeine will be very hard for him if the day ever comes that he can't drink tea any more. I don't think getting up at 7am to complete the sealing of the remaining cracks in our basement wall before he went to the lab helped him either. The chemical in that sealant has a bit of a strong smell and he is very sensitive to industrial chemicals, and on an empty stomach....
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The lovely phone call we just had from our son seems to have buoyed my husband considerably and he is happily brewing his first cup of tea for the day now, at nearly 2pm. Our son is joyfully preparing for his trip to Italy and France in mid September to participate in a group art show near Milan. He will spend a few days in Paris on the way as he has several friends living there, as well as discovering that a few other Vancouver friends will be in Paris at the same time and are wanting to see him. Then he will spend about ten days in Italy for the art show and a brief tour, then back to Paris for a few more days. He hasn't been to Paris since 2007, so is very excited to be returning. He has a list of cathedrals in Italy that he wants to see, but realizes he will have very limited time. Knowing him, he will make the most of every moment. hahaha
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Just got a phone call from one of my church friends. She has discovered a lump in a bad place and is going to the hospital for tests next week. Please pray for DeeDee. She is a cancer survivor but has been cancer free for well over 20 years. Because of her past medical history with cancer she is terrified and she is a widow, so she feels very alone. Sigh...stupid cancer! Her doctor doesn't seem particularly worried and feels it may be something no more complicated than a calcium deposit, but how can she not worry?? She asked me to let anyone I wanted to tell know that she needs prayer for peace of mind as much as for whatever exactly is wrong in her body and I thought right away of all the praying folk who read this blog. Thank you so much for remembering DeeDee.
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I have no idea what is keeping the bone specialist's office from calling me to set up a follow up appointment for my test results, but I have been assured by the scheduler that an appointment is coming. Who knows what is going on in that VERY busy office, manned by one lone specialist who is looking after half the osteoporosis patients in the province, as well as people with other conditions for who there is no local specialist. After today I think I am prepared to hear bad news about the bone tests as well.
Next week we are going to Saskatoon and area for a couple of days on my husband's days off. We are meeting his sister/her husband there to travel together to some small towns in the general area where their mom and uncle were born and raised. We will be scattering their ashes in appropriate places throughout the trip. I am glad for the break, even though it will be a bit of an emotional event for my husband and his sister.
Oh, I forgot to mention I have ordered in some new glasses. They are funky and fun and yes, they are purple again, only a much lighter shade than what I have been wearing. I tried on several more age appropriate styles and colours, but the techincian told me they make me look too old for my personality. In other words, yes it is true, I have never grown up, but after getting the news I got today, so unexpectedly, I will channel my rebellion and disappointment over the news into purchasing some cool shades that are far more modern than what I would expect to wear. Just because I am old doesn't mean I have to look like I am even older because of sedate, staid eyewear. teehee teehee (My husband is going to FREAK OUT when he sees these frames. hahahahaha)
Think I will close this missive and take a few minutes to watch last night's episode of my favourite dance competition that I recorded last night: So You Think You Can Dance. That show is the best distraction ever for me when I want to just escape my own reality.
Enjoy your day everyone and thanks again for your prayers for DeeDee.
I admit I am grateful I had a half hour walk home from the appointment so I could process my feelings a bit before I had to tell my husband. He is feeling weak and miserable today from his 14 hour cholesterol test fasting, but I am pretty sure it is because he is suffering from the loss of morning caffeine in his tea. He starts and ends every day with one of his many teas and has I don't know how many cups throughout the day. Withdrawing from caffeine will be very hard for him if the day ever comes that he can't drink tea any more. I don't think getting up at 7am to complete the sealing of the remaining cracks in our basement wall before he went to the lab helped him either. The chemical in that sealant has a bit of a strong smell and he is very sensitive to industrial chemicals, and on an empty stomach....
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The lovely phone call we just had from our son seems to have buoyed my husband considerably and he is happily brewing his first cup of tea for the day now, at nearly 2pm. Our son is joyfully preparing for his trip to Italy and France in mid September to participate in a group art show near Milan. He will spend a few days in Paris on the way as he has several friends living there, as well as discovering that a few other Vancouver friends will be in Paris at the same time and are wanting to see him. Then he will spend about ten days in Italy for the art show and a brief tour, then back to Paris for a few more days. He hasn't been to Paris since 2007, so is very excited to be returning. He has a list of cathedrals in Italy that he wants to see, but realizes he will have very limited time. Knowing him, he will make the most of every moment. hahaha
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Just got a phone call from one of my church friends. She has discovered a lump in a bad place and is going to the hospital for tests next week. Please pray for DeeDee. She is a cancer survivor but has been cancer free for well over 20 years. Because of her past medical history with cancer she is terrified and she is a widow, so she feels very alone. Sigh...stupid cancer! Her doctor doesn't seem particularly worried and feels it may be something no more complicated than a calcium deposit, but how can she not worry?? She asked me to let anyone I wanted to tell know that she needs prayer for peace of mind as much as for whatever exactly is wrong in her body and I thought right away of all the praying folk who read this blog. Thank you so much for remembering DeeDee.
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I have no idea what is keeping the bone specialist's office from calling me to set up a follow up appointment for my test results, but I have been assured by the scheduler that an appointment is coming. Who knows what is going on in that VERY busy office, manned by one lone specialist who is looking after half the osteoporosis patients in the province, as well as people with other conditions for who there is no local specialist. After today I think I am prepared to hear bad news about the bone tests as well.
Next week we are going to Saskatoon and area for a couple of days on my husband's days off. We are meeting his sister/her husband there to travel together to some small towns in the general area where their mom and uncle were born and raised. We will be scattering their ashes in appropriate places throughout the trip. I am glad for the break, even though it will be a bit of an emotional event for my husband and his sister.
Oh, I forgot to mention I have ordered in some new glasses. They are funky and fun and yes, they are purple again, only a much lighter shade than what I have been wearing. I tried on several more age appropriate styles and colours, but the techincian told me they make me look too old for my personality. In other words, yes it is true, I have never grown up, but after getting the news I got today, so unexpectedly, I will channel my rebellion and disappointment over the news into purchasing some cool shades that are far more modern than what I would expect to wear. Just because I am old doesn't mean I have to look like I am even older because of sedate, staid eyewear. teehee teehee (My husband is going to FREAK OUT when he sees these frames. hahahahaha)
Think I will close this missive and take a few minutes to watch last night's episode of my favourite dance competition that I recorded last night: So You Think You Can Dance. That show is the best distraction ever for me when I want to just escape my own reality.
Enjoy your day everyone and thanks again for your prayers for DeeDee.
Too Busy To Sleep
I am back in the old pattern of waking up a few hours too early because my mind is racing about one thing and another. Mostly I am mulling over good things like how I am going to get all my new acquaintances scheduled for tea and lunch get togethers over the next couple of weeks. It is a problem I thought I was never going to have again! So many requests, so little time. It has been many years since being the new person at church sparked this kind of interest in a congregation and, as it will likely never happen again I don’t want to miss out on any of the invites! hahahaha Saying no to any invitation is not feeling like an option after a long dry spell socially. I am even more grateful for the handful of other local friends who have kept me somewhat sane here over the last three years. Getting together with them now is even sweeter because I feel less socially desperate. Thank you Lord for this opportunity to expand my horizons. It is indeed a season of plenty.
This morning my husband and I will go our separate ways: he to the blood lab and me to the eye doctor. I am hoping he will be done in time to come meet me to help me pick out new frames for my glasses. As much as I love my purple frames, they are showing signs of wear and tear. Having a Venetian blind fall into my face and knock them to the floor twice in the past few months has bent them. They have scratches and the colour is fading on the lugs. I really struggle finding new frames on my own because my vision is too compromised to see what they look like on my face when there are no lenses in them. Peering into the mirror from two inches away does not give me the best concept of what they look .ike on my face. It is always a surprise to me to see what they really look like after I have purchased them and pick them up with lenses installed. haha
I feel prepared for Old Testament group tonight. I am disciplining myself to refrain from asking my husband for answers to my questions before going to the group meeting. It is better to hear all the answers and ideas at once. Then afterward my husband can help me sort out the various ideas that came out of the discussion. I didn’t realize before how many questions I do have about these ancient texts!
My husband and I were both just bagged yesterday. He was exhausted by yet another long distance Sunday road trip for services and meetings and I was exhausted by the number of activities and visits over the weekend. By mid afternoon we were sitting across the living room from each other laughing at how worn out we each looked. Despite being so tired we still managed to get a huge batch of granola made, grocery shopping done and a shelving unit in the basement cleared of junk in preparation to take down the unit and patch the leaking crack in the foundation behind it. That SHOULD be the last of the patching needed down there.
Well, it is now 5:30am and I should try for another couple of hours of sleep.
This morning my husband and I will go our separate ways: he to the blood lab and me to the eye doctor. I am hoping he will be done in time to come meet me to help me pick out new frames for my glasses. As much as I love my purple frames, they are showing signs of wear and tear. Having a Venetian blind fall into my face and knock them to the floor twice in the past few months has bent them. They have scratches and the colour is fading on the lugs. I really struggle finding new frames on my own because my vision is too compromised to see what they look like on my face when there are no lenses in them. Peering into the mirror from two inches away does not give me the best concept of what they look .ike on my face. It is always a surprise to me to see what they really look like after I have purchased them and pick them up with lenses installed. haha
I feel prepared for Old Testament group tonight. I am disciplining myself to refrain from asking my husband for answers to my questions before going to the group meeting. It is better to hear all the answers and ideas at once. Then afterward my husband can help me sort out the various ideas that came out of the discussion. I didn’t realize before how many questions I do have about these ancient texts!
My husband and I were both just bagged yesterday. He was exhausted by yet another long distance Sunday road trip for services and meetings and I was exhausted by the number of activities and visits over the weekend. By mid afternoon we were sitting across the living room from each other laughing at how worn out we each looked. Despite being so tired we still managed to get a huge batch of granola made, grocery shopping done and a shelving unit in the basement cleared of junk in preparation to take down the unit and patch the leaking crack in the foundation behind it. That SHOULD be the last of the patching needed down there.
Well, it is now 5:30am and I should try for another couple of hours of sleep.
Sunday, August 19, 2018
What the Fudge!!???!
After so many weeks of nearly unbearably warm weather here, last night ushered in a huge change!! I went to bed last night with all the upstairs windows open, feeling grateful that the floor fan wasn't needed as the night air was cooling down for a change.
When I woke up this morning just before 7am it was SO blessed cold in our suite that I had to shut all the windows again immediately and wrap myself in a quilt for a half hour to warm up. I woke up with "goose bumps" all over me from the chilly air!
As I left for church I was thinking I had made a mistake in wearing a heavy cotton dress jacket over my short sleeved tee shirt. I assumed I would be far too warm walking for a half hour with my arms covered. NOT SO!! By the time I walked two blocks I was grateful for the long sleeves. My sandalled feet were freezing cold though and I was wishing I had put on proper shoes...and SOCKS! Brrrrrrrr!!! We only reached a daytime high of +23C...eleven degrees cooler than yesterday's high.
Church was very good. Our minister has returned from his holidays and it was nice having him back, despite the quality sermons and services put together in his absence. I stood around visiting with various folk for about an hour, which was fun. Lunch with my new friend was great fun. We went to the new Good Earth on Albert for lentil stew and an edemame and kale salad. My new friend is a strict vegan, so I just ordered the same meal she did to try it out. It was quite delicious and very small portions for a reasonable price...perfect for both of us. We sat in the restaurant and chatted for nearly two hours before she drove me home. In September she is riding her bicycle in a fundraiser for procuring freedom for women who have been kidnapped and harmed by sex traffickers around the world, so I want to sponsor her for a few dollars. It is a for a more than worthy cause. The event is called "Ride for Refuge" if you want to check it out online yourselves and consider making a donation.
After an afternoon of getting caught up on the Old Testament readings for this coming week's discussion group, I was delighted that my husband arrived home a couple of hours earlier than expected from his cross province trek today. He had an excellent day of meetings and is looking forward to a sleep in tomorrow morning.
AND now the "shocking" weather news for our city: tonight we are sitting under a frost warning. A FROST WARNING....IN AUGUST....AFTER A MONTH OF SUPER DUPER PARTY POOPER HEAT WARNINGS! hahahahahaha The weather here is absolutely crazy town. A week ago we were sitting at +41C! What the fudge indeed!!
When I woke up this morning just before 7am it was SO blessed cold in our suite that I had to shut all the windows again immediately and wrap myself in a quilt for a half hour to warm up. I woke up with "goose bumps" all over me from the chilly air!
As I left for church I was thinking I had made a mistake in wearing a heavy cotton dress jacket over my short sleeved tee shirt. I assumed I would be far too warm walking for a half hour with my arms covered. NOT SO!! By the time I walked two blocks I was grateful for the long sleeves. My sandalled feet were freezing cold though and I was wishing I had put on proper shoes...and SOCKS! Brrrrrrrr!!! We only reached a daytime high of +23C...eleven degrees cooler than yesterday's high.
Church was very good. Our minister has returned from his holidays and it was nice having him back, despite the quality sermons and services put together in his absence. I stood around visiting with various folk for about an hour, which was fun. Lunch with my new friend was great fun. We went to the new Good Earth on Albert for lentil stew and an edemame and kale salad. My new friend is a strict vegan, so I just ordered the same meal she did to try it out. It was quite delicious and very small portions for a reasonable price...perfect for both of us. We sat in the restaurant and chatted for nearly two hours before she drove me home. In September she is riding her bicycle in a fundraiser for procuring freedom for women who have been kidnapped and harmed by sex traffickers around the world, so I want to sponsor her for a few dollars. It is a for a more than worthy cause. The event is called "Ride for Refuge" if you want to check it out online yourselves and consider making a donation.
After an afternoon of getting caught up on the Old Testament readings for this coming week's discussion group, I was delighted that my husband arrived home a couple of hours earlier than expected from his cross province trek today. He had an excellent day of meetings and is looking forward to a sleep in tomorrow morning.
AND now the "shocking" weather news for our city: tonight we are sitting under a frost warning. A FROST WARNING....IN AUGUST....AFTER A MONTH OF SUPER DUPER PARTY POOPER HEAT WARNINGS! hahahahahaha The weather here is absolutely crazy town. A week ago we were sitting at +41C! What the fudge indeed!!
Saturday, August 18, 2018
Well.....That Was Fun!!
Despite the forest fire smoke drifting into Regina being as bad today as it has ever been, I dragged my asthmatic self out to the book club brunch and discussion. It was a great deal of fun! It was more fun than I was expecting.
What I most appreciated about the discussion is how, even with such a broad range of opinions in the group about the quality of this book, each person speaking completely respected everyone's differing opinions. This group seems a safe place to have honest discussion because everyone in attendance is apparently an actual grown up....what a relief! When the opinions began to differ I was only tense for the first five minutes until I realized all would be well. What does that say about my past experiences in groups with other supposedly grown up women???? Yikes! haha
After the meeting and a delicious brunch of waffles, two kinds of sausages, two kinds of yogurt, blueberries and whipping cream, (and YES I DID CONTROL MY SNACK: 1/4 of a waffle and half a small sausage...hallelujah), I drove over to the office to pick up my husband from work as he desperately wanted to go out to yet another restaurant for a meal. Not sure what is up with that, but if he wants to go somewhere away from home for any reason that is not work related, I am IN! haha He wanted to go to the Vintage tea room, so away we went for potato leak soup, egg and ham sandwiches and delicious teas! It was really fun. I think he is dreading his cholesterol lab work this coming Tuesday, particularly having to remember to fast after dinner Monday evening. Poor dear....he is SUCH an evening snack person. (2 unsalted rice cakes...yippee skippee....eek...I couldn't eat those if I was paid to do so)
My husband is so relaxed this week. Juggling his office hours to a more suitable schedule has certainly improved not only his physical health, but his mental state as well. He has been cheerful and pretty happy. Yay!
I dropped him back at the office after lunch and home I came to complete 2 hours of ironing. I thought I had been keeping up with the laundry, but there seemed to be an horrendous number of items to wash yesterday. I like ironing as I find it relaxing, so that was fine. About the time I was done, my husband arrived home and has been sitting at his computer putting the finishing touches on his sermon for tomorrow morning's service. He has pulled quite a bit from the lectionary readings to continue on his bent of preaching JOY in the Lord, so it should be good. I am looking forward to reading it tonight.
I am going out for lunch with a lady from church tomorrow. Her husband has a long meeting after the service and so we will enjoy some more food and fellowship together. She is vegan so I am looking forward to her choice of restaurant. We only have one truly vegan restaurant here in the city that I know of but I don't think it is open on Sundays. Can't wait to see where we end up. Hoping the smoke isn't too thick and stinky for my walk to church tomorrow.
Time to make dinner....the husband has emerged from behind his computer...food, food and more food around here it seems, hahaha.
What I most appreciated about the discussion is how, even with such a broad range of opinions in the group about the quality of this book, each person speaking completely respected everyone's differing opinions. This group seems a safe place to have honest discussion because everyone in attendance is apparently an actual grown up....what a relief! When the opinions began to differ I was only tense for the first five minutes until I realized all would be well. What does that say about my past experiences in groups with other supposedly grown up women???? Yikes! haha
After the meeting and a delicious brunch of waffles, two kinds of sausages, two kinds of yogurt, blueberries and whipping cream, (and YES I DID CONTROL MY SNACK: 1/4 of a waffle and half a small sausage...hallelujah), I drove over to the office to pick up my husband from work as he desperately wanted to go out to yet another restaurant for a meal. Not sure what is up with that, but if he wants to go somewhere away from home for any reason that is not work related, I am IN! haha He wanted to go to the Vintage tea room, so away we went for potato leak soup, egg and ham sandwiches and delicious teas! It was really fun. I think he is dreading his cholesterol lab work this coming Tuesday, particularly having to remember to fast after dinner Monday evening. Poor dear....he is SUCH an evening snack person. (2 unsalted rice cakes...yippee skippee....eek...I couldn't eat those if I was paid to do so)
My husband is so relaxed this week. Juggling his office hours to a more suitable schedule has certainly improved not only his physical health, but his mental state as well. He has been cheerful and pretty happy. Yay!
I dropped him back at the office after lunch and home I came to complete 2 hours of ironing. I thought I had been keeping up with the laundry, but there seemed to be an horrendous number of items to wash yesterday. I like ironing as I find it relaxing, so that was fine. About the time I was done, my husband arrived home and has been sitting at his computer putting the finishing touches on his sermon for tomorrow morning's service. He has pulled quite a bit from the lectionary readings to continue on his bent of preaching JOY in the Lord, so it should be good. I am looking forward to reading it tonight.
I am going out for lunch with a lady from church tomorrow. Her husband has a long meeting after the service and so we will enjoy some more food and fellowship together. She is vegan so I am looking forward to her choice of restaurant. We only have one truly vegan restaurant here in the city that I know of but I don't think it is open on Sundays. Can't wait to see where we end up. Hoping the smoke isn't too thick and stinky for my walk to church tomorrow.
Time to make dinner....the husband has emerged from behind his computer...food, food and more food around here it seems, hahaha.
Friday, August 17, 2018
Paying Bills and Other Thrills
Hopefully today is the last of the super duper party pooper hot days this summer. Looking at the 14 day forecast it appears that most of our temperatures during that time frame will be in the high +20C's with only a couple of days of +30C. Sure do hope that forecast is at least close to the truth. Today our high was +35C and now, just after 8pm it is still +30C with not the slightest hint of a breeze. My floor fan is whirring rather uselessly upstairs...all 3 bedroom windows and the downstairs kitchen window are open, but the the fan pushing the air around from those open windows is making zero difference to the air temperature inside our suite. It feels the same in here as it did at dinner when all the windows had been closed since 7am. Overnight tonight will be +14C, but then starting tomorrow the overnight temperatures will only be in the +8C range. Wow....that is a huge drop. I wonder if the overly warm temperatures will continue on into September and then, with no warning at all, the snow and ice will appear and we will have an early and long winter. Best not to think about it....too depressing!
All three major utility bills came in this morning's mail. I changed my plan to complete the laundry chores before noon and headed out on my walk downtown to pay the bills. It was still cool enough that, with the number of large and shady trees along my route, the walk to the bank and back was most enjoyable. I stopped in at Cornwall Centre to drink the bottle of water I brought with me and enjoyed a short rest before heading home again. After that short break the heat was more noticeable all ready. Wow, it was great to get outside for a long walk so unexpectedly. I wasn't expecting the bills to arrive until at least next Monday.
I completed the laundry after I got home and am now staring at a HUGE stack of clothes to be ironed tomorrow afternoon. The washing machine must be on the verge of packing it in because the last few weeks EVERYTHING coming out of the machine has been so wrinkled that even hanging the no-irons to dry has not taken sufficient wrinkling out of the fabric to continue to avoid ironing them. O well....as long as I don't open the machine some day to find all the clothes stained with motor oil I don't mind if it craters and we have to get a different one brought in. So grateful we don't have to purchase one. That is one of the joys of renting a suite with laundry machines included.
My husband came home from work on time for a change today. He was very happy because there were virtually no interruptions today...MOST unusual....and he caught up on a ton of things he needed to have done before next week. He was bubbling over, he was so happy and told me to get ready to go out for dinner. We went to Mr. Mike's because it is relatively quiet, the music bearable and not blasting us out of our chairs, ruining conversation. The prices have gone up I think. Dinner was rather more than we thought it would be, but it was delicious and it was great to get out on a date together before my husband's weekend work schedule begins. At least the cooks there know how to cook a medium rare steak properly, unlike over at Jamieson's where every medium rare steak seems to arrive more medium than rare. After dinner we stopped at Mr. Lube and got a badly needed oil change and fluid top up for our car. Now the car will be all ready for the country roads my husband will be travelling on this weekend.
Tomorrow morning is book club brunch. Should be fun. Looking forward to meeting some more new people from church.
WOW, it is HOT in here tonight. I need to get a drink of water. Hoping for a enough of a breeze overnight to help out my old floor fan to cool the place sufficiently for a decent sleep once again.
All three major utility bills came in this morning's mail. I changed my plan to complete the laundry chores before noon and headed out on my walk downtown to pay the bills. It was still cool enough that, with the number of large and shady trees along my route, the walk to the bank and back was most enjoyable. I stopped in at Cornwall Centre to drink the bottle of water I brought with me and enjoyed a short rest before heading home again. After that short break the heat was more noticeable all ready. Wow, it was great to get outside for a long walk so unexpectedly. I wasn't expecting the bills to arrive until at least next Monday.
I completed the laundry after I got home and am now staring at a HUGE stack of clothes to be ironed tomorrow afternoon. The washing machine must be on the verge of packing it in because the last few weeks EVERYTHING coming out of the machine has been so wrinkled that even hanging the no-irons to dry has not taken sufficient wrinkling out of the fabric to continue to avoid ironing them. O well....as long as I don't open the machine some day to find all the clothes stained with motor oil I don't mind if it craters and we have to get a different one brought in. So grateful we don't have to purchase one. That is one of the joys of renting a suite with laundry machines included.
My husband came home from work on time for a change today. He was very happy because there were virtually no interruptions today...MOST unusual....and he caught up on a ton of things he needed to have done before next week. He was bubbling over, he was so happy and told me to get ready to go out for dinner. We went to Mr. Mike's because it is relatively quiet, the music bearable and not blasting us out of our chairs, ruining conversation. The prices have gone up I think. Dinner was rather more than we thought it would be, but it was delicious and it was great to get out on a date together before my husband's weekend work schedule begins. At least the cooks there know how to cook a medium rare steak properly, unlike over at Jamieson's where every medium rare steak seems to arrive more medium than rare. After dinner we stopped at Mr. Lube and got a badly needed oil change and fluid top up for our car. Now the car will be all ready for the country roads my husband will be travelling on this weekend.
Tomorrow morning is book club brunch. Should be fun. Looking forward to meeting some more new people from church.
WOW, it is HOT in here tonight. I need to get a drink of water. Hoping for a enough of a breeze overnight to help out my old floor fan to cool the place sufficiently for a decent sleep once again.
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Shaking Like a Leaf
So, I just called the bone specialist's office and my results WERE sent to him from the imaging clinic. Thank you Lord! I am on the list to be scheduled for an appointment with the doctor once he returns from holidays, so who knows when that will turn out to be, but at least the results are in his office. Thank you Lord!!
I was able to assure his office manager that I am not trying to push for an appointment, I just wanted to know if the results were in and that whatever works for her will work for me when she eventually calls to schedule. If the results are poor then I will get in sooner and if they are good then I can wait for a LONG time to hear them!
So, duty done and now I am shaking like a leaf all over. Why?? How stupid is this??? I suspect I am shaking with relief that a simple thing like having results sent to the right place is not going to be a huge issue this time around: no playing "Let's find the test results" or anything like that. Thank you Lord!! No tag team telephone relays between offices in two provinces and my home phone and my cell phone and who knows what or where all else....I can sit now and wait for a booking call and not worry about having any more folderol over it.
Whew!!!
I was able to assure his office manager that I am not trying to push for an appointment, I just wanted to know if the results were in and that whatever works for her will work for me when she eventually calls to schedule. If the results are poor then I will get in sooner and if they are good then I can wait for a LONG time to hear them!
So, duty done and now I am shaking like a leaf all over. Why?? How stupid is this??? I suspect I am shaking with relief that a simple thing like having results sent to the right place is not going to be a huge issue this time around: no playing "Let's find the test results" or anything like that. Thank you Lord!! No tag team telephone relays between offices in two provinces and my home phone and my cell phone and who knows what or where all else....I can sit now and wait for a booking call and not worry about having any more folderol over it.
Whew!!!
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes...And Up Your Nose....and In Your Lungs!
The past 24 hours has brought us our turn to experience the thick smoke blowing in from the forest fires in B.C. and Alberta. We have been more fortunate than many other places in that the smoke is so high in the atmosphere here that we are getting almost no odor and are thus far avoiding the "thick" air we experienced during last year's fire season. There has been no downdraft wind to bring the smoke lower to the ground. Hallelujah and long may it last!!
I am feeling most grateful this morning that my allergy/asthma symptoms have been so slight so far. Other than becoming a bit short of breath when I am exerting myself I have not suffered much. My eyes are not streaming and sore. My sinuses are not clogged. My throat is not sore. My neck lymph nodes are not swollen. What a relief!
Last night I took my chances and opened all the windows to get a decent sleep. I didn't know if it would be better to leave them all open and risk waking up choking on the smoke or to close them all and risk not sleeping due to the build up of heat. I am glad for the choice I made, because I slept very well and woke up with only a bit of soreness in my lungs that dissipated as soon as I arose and got moving about.
So, my prayers today are centered on those people suffering from asthma and other allergies that the smoke is exacerbating. One of my husband's young cousins lives in BC and is suffering badly. She is on the maximum allowed dose of her asthma medication. I am sure there are hundreds of people experiencing extreme symptoms so I pray they will be okay. I pray the fires would soon be brought under control and put out completely!! I pray for the fire fighters battling intense blazes and putting their own lives at risk to save others.
On the good medical news front: my husband's sister has just had her 6 months post cancer surgery examination and thus far is free and clear!! That is fantabulous news to all of us and we are all grateful for the many prayers that have been sent skyward for her healing. She will have another check 6 months from now. (hint hint: continue to pray)
I was able to secure an eye examination appointment for next week. YES!! If I get mine now and my husband waits until his schedule settles down a bit in October, we can juggle our insurance coverage sufficiently to get optimum assistance. Always good news! hahaha
I need to call my osteoporosis specialist's office to see if my results from June's bone densitometry ever arrived. I know the doctor takes a major holiday each summer, so I have been assuming that is why I haven't heard anything, but now I am thinking I had better call the office to ensure the results actually were sent there. Sigh....there are days when managing my own health care feels overwhelming. I don't know why that is. It is a simple matter to phone and find out if the results are there and arrange to have them sent from the imaging clinic if they aren't. I don't know why it seems like such an onerous task simply to find out what is going on. Right now just blogging about it is filling me with dread. Duh...either the results are there or they aren't and if they aren't, it is easy enough to have them sent. Maybe I am just dreading the actual results and don't want to face the fact that my meds may not be working, as there is no other option at this time for me. Sigh....maybe I will call later this afternoon.........I don't usually procrastinate on such matters, but this summer I can't seem to get moving. Even the eye exam only got made a few moments ago because I received and email reminder that it is time....duh....whatever.....I plucked my up courage to make an eye appointment so I MUST call the bone specialist....must, must, must...
I think a long, hot shower and good scrubbing of my hair is in order before I do any more medical "arranging"! That will be a happy way to procrastinate for awhile longer.....
I am feeling most grateful this morning that my allergy/asthma symptoms have been so slight so far. Other than becoming a bit short of breath when I am exerting myself I have not suffered much. My eyes are not streaming and sore. My sinuses are not clogged. My throat is not sore. My neck lymph nodes are not swollen. What a relief!
Last night I took my chances and opened all the windows to get a decent sleep. I didn't know if it would be better to leave them all open and risk waking up choking on the smoke or to close them all and risk not sleeping due to the build up of heat. I am glad for the choice I made, because I slept very well and woke up with only a bit of soreness in my lungs that dissipated as soon as I arose and got moving about.
So, my prayers today are centered on those people suffering from asthma and other allergies that the smoke is exacerbating. One of my husband's young cousins lives in BC and is suffering badly. She is on the maximum allowed dose of her asthma medication. I am sure there are hundreds of people experiencing extreme symptoms so I pray they will be okay. I pray the fires would soon be brought under control and put out completely!! I pray for the fire fighters battling intense blazes and putting their own lives at risk to save others.
On the good medical news front: my husband's sister has just had her 6 months post cancer surgery examination and thus far is free and clear!! That is fantabulous news to all of us and we are all grateful for the many prayers that have been sent skyward for her healing. She will have another check 6 months from now. (hint hint: continue to pray)
I was able to secure an eye examination appointment for next week. YES!! If I get mine now and my husband waits until his schedule settles down a bit in October, we can juggle our insurance coverage sufficiently to get optimum assistance. Always good news! hahaha
I need to call my osteoporosis specialist's office to see if my results from June's bone densitometry ever arrived. I know the doctor takes a major holiday each summer, so I have been assuming that is why I haven't heard anything, but now I am thinking I had better call the office to ensure the results actually were sent there. Sigh....there are days when managing my own health care feels overwhelming. I don't know why that is. It is a simple matter to phone and find out if the results are there and arrange to have them sent from the imaging clinic if they aren't. I don't know why it seems like such an onerous task simply to find out what is going on. Right now just blogging about it is filling me with dread. Duh...either the results are there or they aren't and if they aren't, it is easy enough to have them sent. Maybe I am just dreading the actual results and don't want to face the fact that my meds may not be working, as there is no other option at this time for me. Sigh....maybe I will call later this afternoon.........I don't usually procrastinate on such matters, but this summer I can't seem to get moving. Even the eye exam only got made a few moments ago because I received and email reminder that it is time....duh....whatever.....I plucked my up courage to make an eye appointment so I MUST call the bone specialist....must, must, must...
I think a long, hot shower and good scrubbing of my hair is in order before I do any more medical "arranging"! That will be a happy way to procrastinate for awhile longer.....
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Fitting In
Discussion at the start of our OT group last evening was interesting for me. While we were waiting for the last of the crowd to arrive, one of the women started telling us about two new chairs she has ordered for her home to replace a couple that are in bad need of replacement. As she was telling us the great deal she found on her chairs I had a little secret chuckle to myself. The price she paid for two chairs is almost to the penny the same price I paid for two tub chairs, a three seater couch, two dining room cabinets and two desks. hahaha
Many years ago, about the time I realized that my husband and I were never going to be climbing the same financial ladder as most of our friends, that we would not be moving back to "the city" to be with them and that the growing difference in our financial and therefore social status was resulting in the loss of too many of our longtime friends, I was angry, hurt, bitter and disgruntled. I admit it took a few years to get over being embarrassed by our ongoing circumstances of almost "making it", but never quite arriving, balanced out by periods of illness and extreme poverty. God and I had a rather tentative relationship at times while I brooded over our own "bad luck".
However, as the years went by and I saw how God provided for us, God began to assist me in replacing that anger and hurt and confusion with gratitude that we were still surviving all the trials and tribulations that kept coming our way. God's transforming work was happening and the Holy Spirit was able to help me accept my own reality of life circumstances.
As we all sat and talked about the new chairs my friend has ordered, instead of feeling embarrassed by my own cheap furniture and weird rental accommodation, I felt grateful to have a roof over my head. I felt grateful for a rack of clothes that I have accummulated that are brand new and not from thrift stores. I felt grateful for the good food we can afford to buy and prepare. I felt grateful that we can go to a movie or eat in a restaurant.
I realized that the old jealousy and resentment I struggled with for so many years is completely gone. WOW! Thank you Lord!! You HAVE done some major work in my life after all!! I am extremely happy for my friend. I am happy she got a "deal" on her furniture. I am happy that all the education and her several doctorate degrees have put her in an employment situation where her hard work has allowed her to have her lovely house and her new furniture. Usually I am happy for the success of my friends, but until recent years I have been afraid to admit to them how different our lives really are in comparison to theirs in terms of the temporal amenities. I came to realize last evening that while we are back in the old ways of having friends who are well educated and financially successful beyond OUR means, these particular new friends are not standing in judgement of us. Whatever they may really feel or believe about our state of living, they have not walked away from us or made us feel "less than" or, worse yet, like we are only in the position we are in because we are too stupid to have succeeded anyway.
I am also then grateful for the friends we have made here. I am grateful for friends who value our mutual relationship in Christ more than the outworking of obvious material success in their lives compared to the lack thereof in ours. They are not judging me either for my lack of formal education even while being delighted about my husband's theology degrees and pastoral experience. Being accepted again by people who are living a different lifestyle than we can is refreshing and brings back some fabulous memories of our younger days before all the caste system hassles arose for us.
I am not afraid to tell these people where I live and my admission has been met with nothing but acceptance. It is quite lovely, I have to say. Between the Anglican friends and the Baptist friends we have here in this little city, I am beyond content AND am grateful, grateful, grateful for my life as it is.
Many years ago, about the time I realized that my husband and I were never going to be climbing the same financial ladder as most of our friends, that we would not be moving back to "the city" to be with them and that the growing difference in our financial and therefore social status was resulting in the loss of too many of our longtime friends, I was angry, hurt, bitter and disgruntled. I admit it took a few years to get over being embarrassed by our ongoing circumstances of almost "making it", but never quite arriving, balanced out by periods of illness and extreme poverty. God and I had a rather tentative relationship at times while I brooded over our own "bad luck".
However, as the years went by and I saw how God provided for us, God began to assist me in replacing that anger and hurt and confusion with gratitude that we were still surviving all the trials and tribulations that kept coming our way. God's transforming work was happening and the Holy Spirit was able to help me accept my own reality of life circumstances.
As we all sat and talked about the new chairs my friend has ordered, instead of feeling embarrassed by my own cheap furniture and weird rental accommodation, I felt grateful to have a roof over my head. I felt grateful for a rack of clothes that I have accummulated that are brand new and not from thrift stores. I felt grateful for the good food we can afford to buy and prepare. I felt grateful that we can go to a movie or eat in a restaurant.
I realized that the old jealousy and resentment I struggled with for so many years is completely gone. WOW! Thank you Lord!! You HAVE done some major work in my life after all!! I am extremely happy for my friend. I am happy she got a "deal" on her furniture. I am happy that all the education and her several doctorate degrees have put her in an employment situation where her hard work has allowed her to have her lovely house and her new furniture. Usually I am happy for the success of my friends, but until recent years I have been afraid to admit to them how different our lives really are in comparison to theirs in terms of the temporal amenities. I came to realize last evening that while we are back in the old ways of having friends who are well educated and financially successful beyond OUR means, these particular new friends are not standing in judgement of us. Whatever they may really feel or believe about our state of living, they have not walked away from us or made us feel "less than" or, worse yet, like we are only in the position we are in because we are too stupid to have succeeded anyway.
I am also then grateful for the friends we have made here. I am grateful for friends who value our mutual relationship in Christ more than the outworking of obvious material success in their lives compared to the lack thereof in ours. They are not judging me either for my lack of formal education even while being delighted about my husband's theology degrees and pastoral experience. Being accepted again by people who are living a different lifestyle than we can is refreshing and brings back some fabulous memories of our younger days before all the caste system hassles arose for us.
I am not afraid to tell these people where I live and my admission has been met with nothing but acceptance. It is quite lovely, I have to say. Between the Anglican friends and the Baptist friends we have here in this little city, I am beyond content AND am grateful, grateful, grateful for my life as it is.
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Happy Summer Days
Yesterday was certainly another marvellous day. It was COLD outside for a change....don't think the temperature rose above +19C even in mid afternoon and the breeze was chilly. For the first day in weeks I didn't open any of the windows in this suite and overnight I didn't need to run the fan to keep things cool enough to sleep. My husband certainly enjoyed vegging on his day off in the upstairs instead of having to be a basement hermit to stay cool. Thank you Lord for the break in the hot weather. Today it is only supposed to go to +25C, so I think my friend who is visiting this afternoon may be up for a short walk.
My quick stop at my book club friend's home yesterday morning to pick up her copy of the book the group is reviewing next weekend turned into a 90 minute visit around the kitchen table with coffee and blueberry scones!! YUMMY!! Her husband joined us for awhile and was disappointed that my husband wasn't there, so they invited us to come back to their place for dinner last evening. hahaha Of course we went.........hohoho! Great meal and even greater fellowship, theological discussion, prayers...it was pretty special. Plus, yesterday afternoon I got about 1/4 of the novel read.
Yeah....the novel shall remain untitled here because I don't want to criticize a book others may read and totally enjoy. I just find it kind of typical of modern novels set in our own time period in that it certainly caters to the more scattered millenial mentality....the chapters are more like "sound bytes" than detailed, extensive chapters. The depth of characters is pretty minimal as there is only one real conflict and solution making up the story. That is what makes the characters shallow: they are focused for the length of the book on their own inner feelings about the conflict and their frustration at being slow to find a solution. There is no sweeping narrative, little description of place....I don't know, this sort of novel doesn't grab my attention. My friend who lent me the book indicated briefly that it isn't her type of novel either, so apparently I am invited to join her in locating a more fulfilling read for the group for September. It won't be any problem finishing reading the book by this coming weekend, so that is a good thing.
Last evening our Globe Theatre group received the annual summer email about signing up for another season of plays. I looked at the line up of performances and decided that between how busy I am all ready going to be this year, on top of not seeing many plays that interest me this time around, I would bow out of the group. I admit to finding the last couple of performances I attended difficult to sit through. There was nothing wrong with the plays themselves or the excellent acting skills of the cast. I just realized how physically uncomfortable it is for me to be crammed into those narrow seats with so little distance between rows. I feel like my knees are up around my ears. I will miss the pre-performance dinners with the group I suppose, but it is time to step away and do other things now. I think it is also a continuation of my attempts to separate myself from the stresses involved in my husband's job right now, since all the other ladies in the Globe group work with him in the office.
It is difficult to describe the way a dark cloud seems to have lifted itself off my head lately, after pestering me and weighing me down for about the past 8 years. It is like being able to see the landscape after an extended time in a dark tunnel.
Whatever is really going on right now I am loving it and am extremely grateful for the change of mindset and change of some circumstances.
My quick stop at my book club friend's home yesterday morning to pick up her copy of the book the group is reviewing next weekend turned into a 90 minute visit around the kitchen table with coffee and blueberry scones!! YUMMY!! Her husband joined us for awhile and was disappointed that my husband wasn't there, so they invited us to come back to their place for dinner last evening. hahaha Of course we went.........hohoho! Great meal and even greater fellowship, theological discussion, prayers...it was pretty special. Plus, yesterday afternoon I got about 1/4 of the novel read.
Yeah....the novel shall remain untitled here because I don't want to criticize a book others may read and totally enjoy. I just find it kind of typical of modern novels set in our own time period in that it certainly caters to the more scattered millenial mentality....the chapters are more like "sound bytes" than detailed, extensive chapters. The depth of characters is pretty minimal as there is only one real conflict and solution making up the story. That is what makes the characters shallow: they are focused for the length of the book on their own inner feelings about the conflict and their frustration at being slow to find a solution. There is no sweeping narrative, little description of place....I don't know, this sort of novel doesn't grab my attention. My friend who lent me the book indicated briefly that it isn't her type of novel either, so apparently I am invited to join her in locating a more fulfilling read for the group for September. It won't be any problem finishing reading the book by this coming weekend, so that is a good thing.
Last evening our Globe Theatre group received the annual summer email about signing up for another season of plays. I looked at the line up of performances and decided that between how busy I am all ready going to be this year, on top of not seeing many plays that interest me this time around, I would bow out of the group. I admit to finding the last couple of performances I attended difficult to sit through. There was nothing wrong with the plays themselves or the excellent acting skills of the cast. I just realized how physically uncomfortable it is for me to be crammed into those narrow seats with so little distance between rows. I feel like my knees are up around my ears. I will miss the pre-performance dinners with the group I suppose, but it is time to step away and do other things now. I think it is also a continuation of my attempts to separate myself from the stresses involved in my husband's job right now, since all the other ladies in the Globe group work with him in the office.
It is difficult to describe the way a dark cloud seems to have lifted itself off my head lately, after pestering me and weighing me down for about the past 8 years. It is like being able to see the landscape after an extended time in a dark tunnel.
Whatever is really going on right now I am loving it and am extremely grateful for the change of mindset and change of some circumstances.
Sunday, August 12, 2018
Today Thus Far Has Been Cooler and "Funner" Than Yesterday!
Right now, in the early afternoon, it is only +29C on its way to the forecast daytime high of +31C. Believe me that as warm as it is, compared to yesterday it is a WONDERFULLY comfortable day outside and in. It will be less depressing in here this afternoon because I won't have to draw the heavy living room curtains shut to keep out excessive heat. I am so relieved that this week we shouldn't get above +33C...praying that is correct, yah, you betcha!!!
Walking to church this morning was a treat after being stuck inside all day yesterday. I am finding all the Saturdays my husband works to be days when I tend to fight a bit of depression. I don't know why. It makes no sense. I have the car as often on Satudays as I do on any other day. All the same stores, restaurants and banking services are available should I need them, just like they are on week days. There are just as many friends available to see as on any other day. Need to be praying about this sillyness. It isn't serious, but it is certainly unnecessary!
Church was very good today. Our special music was performed by a friend from Amici choir who leads music at one of our Anglican churches. He and his wife were very nice to listen to as he sang and she accompanied him on the piano. The sermon was delivered by our resident buffalo breeder who, in his first career incarnation was an anaesthetist and who also worked in the communications industry. This morning however, instead of putting us to sleep, he kept us very much awake as he communicated a powerful message from Revelation 21. There is no way I could listen to that man speak about Jesus' message in Revelation and not have hope for the future of the earth and for Christ's disciples. He is soft spoken and humble and his sermon, a series of meditations given around the readings, was all the more powerful because of his demeanor. I sat with a good friend from choir and that was a bonus. I am finding I no longer miss the post-service coffee hour that is cancelled for the summer months as there are so many people to talk to just standing around in the pews afterward. As it is becoming recognized I am turning into a weekly fixture, more people are venturing to talk with me and wow, there are some really interesting folk in the congregation. One lady was telling me that she has had trouble all her life in allowing the joy of Christ to permeate her life because she has felt so guilty all the time about every horrible thing every other Christian on the earth has ever done, on top of whatever failings of her own she is dealing with. She is part of my generation: the one that struggles to believe they are forgiven. Her children are part of the younger generation who struggle to believe they are loved. Jesus is the answer to both those fears, that is for sure. We covenanted to pray together for each other's restoration of joy in the Lord, had a little cry together and it was a sweet conversation. If my present church setting is a bit more focused on sin compared to my previous one, they are also more focused on the incredible joy of receiving forgiveness from God and are not afraid to share that either! I enjoy it!!
After church I walked over to Cornwall Centre to bop around and find some lunch. Unfortunately the stores and eating stalls in there do not generally open until noon and at this point it was only 11:20am. Fortunately a couple of the food floor stalls were all ready open, so I was able to get a huge plate of stir fried veggies with NO SAUCE, YAY, from Kung Pao Chicken. Yum, yum!! It was good practise for my arthritic fingers to use the chopsticks instead of copping out and using a fork and knife. I did well for once too, thank you Lord. Somehow I managed to spill nothing at all on myself! YIPPEE! (talk about yer miracles, haha)
The lady who invited me to the book club meeting and brunch next Saturday was not surprised I was unable to find the book they have been reading as it has been very popular. She isn't sure why as it is, according to her, fluffy chick lit. (her comment made me even happier I had not expended a huge load of cash to order it in) She is hoping we can find something with more depth for the next session. Apparently I am to come to the meeting next weekend even if I haven't read the book, just to meet the other ladies and find out what they are going to read next. She wants me to "get a feel" for the group and see if I would like to take part in it regularly. I will see how it goes. If I was to join, it would mean I would have a committment 3 nights in a row every week from Septmber to June....OT discussion group on Tuesday nights, Voice book club on Wednesday nights and church choir practise on Thursday nights. Hmmmm....could be just a little more than I can handle...BUT I am more than willing to "start off strong" and give it a try. hahaha I will see if I can at least get a synopsis of the book being discussed next Saturday so I am not completely in the dark.
The other day I went through my winter clothes to check out what is still in good shape and what, after 5 years of wear, needs replacing. O dear....I lost more tops than I thought I would. My winter sweaters were all even older than the shirts and blouses (Does anyone even use that word any more?) and stretched out of shape from weight losses and gains and losses; pilling everywhere. They must have looked pretty bad last winter too and I just didn't realize it. Anyway, long story short, I counted up my points from one of my favourite retail stores and came home with 3 new winter tops...tops with sleeves that are actually long enough for my long arms. YES! I have never been that interested in all these retail point systems for clothing, but today it paid off! Walking out of a store with three new tops for almost zero dollars paid is a wonderful feeling! I guess the trick is to pay no attention to how many points you are collecting and then one day have the sales clerk inform you that you might as well purchase whatever it is you are interested in because you have so many points there are only the taxes to pay! OKAY!!!
I grinned stupidly all the way home! Joy AND happiness all at the same time, hahaha. WOW!
I am praying my husband is having successful church services and meetings today. He is hours away right now, on his way from a service to a long meeting that may be a bit unsettling and upsetting for a few folk. Sigh...."The Bishop's Rottweiler" is certainly an apt nickname for what he has to do today. All that possible unpleasantness and then several hours of driving home in the heat...I feel for him and I am beyond grateful to God that he was able to find us a vehicle with air conditioning!! If all else fails, my husband has his water filled bandana with him. Heat gives him headaches, but the bandana prevents that kind of heat buildup in his system. It is to be +37C where he is spending most of today.
Hmmmm....nearly 2:30pm. I think I will go and read some of the chapters I need to have completed for OT group this week. There is a/c in the home where we meet so that makes it bearable to be in a meeting on hot summer evenings.
So far today has been pretty wonderful and I am grateful.
Walking to church this morning was a treat after being stuck inside all day yesterday. I am finding all the Saturdays my husband works to be days when I tend to fight a bit of depression. I don't know why. It makes no sense. I have the car as often on Satudays as I do on any other day. All the same stores, restaurants and banking services are available should I need them, just like they are on week days. There are just as many friends available to see as on any other day. Need to be praying about this sillyness. It isn't serious, but it is certainly unnecessary!
Church was very good today. Our special music was performed by a friend from Amici choir who leads music at one of our Anglican churches. He and his wife were very nice to listen to as he sang and she accompanied him on the piano. The sermon was delivered by our resident buffalo breeder who, in his first career incarnation was an anaesthetist and who also worked in the communications industry. This morning however, instead of putting us to sleep, he kept us very much awake as he communicated a powerful message from Revelation 21. There is no way I could listen to that man speak about Jesus' message in Revelation and not have hope for the future of the earth and for Christ's disciples. He is soft spoken and humble and his sermon, a series of meditations given around the readings, was all the more powerful because of his demeanor. I sat with a good friend from choir and that was a bonus. I am finding I no longer miss the post-service coffee hour that is cancelled for the summer months as there are so many people to talk to just standing around in the pews afterward. As it is becoming recognized I am turning into a weekly fixture, more people are venturing to talk with me and wow, there are some really interesting folk in the congregation. One lady was telling me that she has had trouble all her life in allowing the joy of Christ to permeate her life because she has felt so guilty all the time about every horrible thing every other Christian on the earth has ever done, on top of whatever failings of her own she is dealing with. She is part of my generation: the one that struggles to believe they are forgiven. Her children are part of the younger generation who struggle to believe they are loved. Jesus is the answer to both those fears, that is for sure. We covenanted to pray together for each other's restoration of joy in the Lord, had a little cry together and it was a sweet conversation. If my present church setting is a bit more focused on sin compared to my previous one, they are also more focused on the incredible joy of receiving forgiveness from God and are not afraid to share that either! I enjoy it!!
After church I walked over to Cornwall Centre to bop around and find some lunch. Unfortunately the stores and eating stalls in there do not generally open until noon and at this point it was only 11:20am. Fortunately a couple of the food floor stalls were all ready open, so I was able to get a huge plate of stir fried veggies with NO SAUCE, YAY, from Kung Pao Chicken. Yum, yum!! It was good practise for my arthritic fingers to use the chopsticks instead of copping out and using a fork and knife. I did well for once too, thank you Lord. Somehow I managed to spill nothing at all on myself! YIPPEE! (talk about yer miracles, haha)
The lady who invited me to the book club meeting and brunch next Saturday was not surprised I was unable to find the book they have been reading as it has been very popular. She isn't sure why as it is, according to her, fluffy chick lit. (her comment made me even happier I had not expended a huge load of cash to order it in) She is hoping we can find something with more depth for the next session. Apparently I am to come to the meeting next weekend even if I haven't read the book, just to meet the other ladies and find out what they are going to read next. She wants me to "get a feel" for the group and see if I would like to take part in it regularly. I will see how it goes. If I was to join, it would mean I would have a committment 3 nights in a row every week from Septmber to June....OT discussion group on Tuesday nights, Voice book club on Wednesday nights and church choir practise on Thursday nights. Hmmmm....could be just a little more than I can handle...BUT I am more than willing to "start off strong" and give it a try. hahaha I will see if I can at least get a synopsis of the book being discussed next Saturday so I am not completely in the dark.
The other day I went through my winter clothes to check out what is still in good shape and what, after 5 years of wear, needs replacing. O dear....I lost more tops than I thought I would. My winter sweaters were all even older than the shirts and blouses (Does anyone even use that word any more?) and stretched out of shape from weight losses and gains and losses; pilling everywhere. They must have looked pretty bad last winter too and I just didn't realize it. Anyway, long story short, I counted up my points from one of my favourite retail stores and came home with 3 new winter tops...tops with sleeves that are actually long enough for my long arms. YES! I have never been that interested in all these retail point systems for clothing, but today it paid off! Walking out of a store with three new tops for almost zero dollars paid is a wonderful feeling! I guess the trick is to pay no attention to how many points you are collecting and then one day have the sales clerk inform you that you might as well purchase whatever it is you are interested in because you have so many points there are only the taxes to pay! OKAY!!!
I grinned stupidly all the way home! Joy AND happiness all at the same time, hahaha. WOW!
I am praying my husband is having successful church services and meetings today. He is hours away right now, on his way from a service to a long meeting that may be a bit unsettling and upsetting for a few folk. Sigh...."The Bishop's Rottweiler" is certainly an apt nickname for what he has to do today. All that possible unpleasantness and then several hours of driving home in the heat...I feel for him and I am beyond grateful to God that he was able to find us a vehicle with air conditioning!! If all else fails, my husband has his water filled bandana with him. Heat gives him headaches, but the bandana prevents that kind of heat buildup in his system. It is to be +37C where he is spending most of today.
Hmmmm....nearly 2:30pm. I think I will go and read some of the chapters I need to have completed for OT group this week. There is a/c in the home where we meet so that makes it bearable to be in a meeting on hot summer evenings.
So far today has been pretty wonderful and I am grateful.
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