My parents phoned here this evening. Dad had his first cauterization treatment this afternoon to deaden the nerves in his back. He had a most positive experience, after worrying all this past week about what would happen and what the procedure would be like. If he was worrying, Mom was worrying even more and hasn't slept for at least a week!
It was a positive experience! Hallelujah! He said the clinic is huge and that there are 22 doctors there who know how to do this procedure. The waiting room was packed with people having the same and similar procedures. That alone helped him feel less concerned. He said the staff and doctors couldn't have been nicer and more compassionate. He was so impressed and it takes a LOT to impress that man. Mom was allowed to go into the change room with him to assist him in getting his clothes on and off as he is in too much pain to dress himself these days.
He said the procedure itself consisted of a small pin prick feeling when the freezing was administered and a bit of pressure when the proceedure was happening. Afterward he had to stay in the waiting room for quite some time to be sure he was going to be okay and then our dearest family friend picked my parents up and took them home. In the week between each of the four treatments, Dad has to keep a pain journal at certain times of the day, every day. It will help the doctors track how effective the treatment is progressing for him. I was relieved that they told him it could take as long as two weeks before he notices a lessening of the pain....or it could take only a few days. Every person has a different response to the treatment, but now he knows he isn't to worry or assume it isn't working if it takes a couple of weeks to notice a real difference.
I suspect both he and Mom will sleep tonight....better than they have in the past week to ten days! I would be worried as well if it was me, not really knowing much about the procedure ahead of time. Add nearly 30 years in age to my parents and the worry quotient is at least double!
Thank you Lord that things went so well and I continue to pray that this cauterization of the nerves will indeed kill the pain for Dad and give him and Mom at least a somewhat easier life in the coming months. Things will still not be easy for Mom because Dad's "M-Gus" blood condition will still keep him laying around in bed a lot, but at least he will be able to get out and about sometimes if he is not in constant pain.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
So Far So Good This Week!
I am so grateful for weeks like this one has been thus far. The weather has been wonderful for being out of doors for long walks, the social scene has been a lot of fun, and my husband has been feeling much better with every passing day about the loss of his position in the office.
Monday night we had some new friends over for dinner and my attempts to prepare a vegan meal were enjoyed and appreciated. The conversation was interesting and my friend brought her guitar so she could sing for us a song she wrote based on Psalms 62 and 63 that is so lovely and inspiring. Her husband is a retired pastor so he and my husband had lots to talk about. It was a happy evening.
Old Testament discussion group was also very good yesterday. We have two new people coming to the group, neither of them have much in the way of theological education...like myself....and we all appreciate that those who do, such as our leader and my husband, do not talk over our heads nor dominate the discussions. It is a group of people who truly want to be more familiar with the Old Testament and how it is relevent to our own beliefs about God today.
Once a month, usually on the last day of the month, my husband and I go out for a hamburger and fries....our carb and fats treat. Tonight we went to the Knotted Thistle pub and enjoyed their Guiness burger and yam fries. They are very accommodating there as far as leaving cheese off the burgers, salt off the fries and even serving me my burger with all the trimmings, but sans bun. It was lots of fun. We talked a lot about what may be coming...or not....in the future and it is always encouraging to me that each time we have faced the process of stepping out in faith in regard to giving up a ministry or other work position before we know what the next one is going to be, we have been thinking so alike. We have been "on the same page" for each of these processes.
Tomorrow morning I have a mammogram appointment, quite early in the morning. I am glad to get it over with and have the rest of my day to do some housework. The weather may be less than dry and spectacular tomorrow, so it will be nice to get home and park the car before everything gets too soggy outside. Church choir rehearsal is happening tomorrow evening and I am looking forward to it after our break last week. Wonder what we will be singing Sunday morning? I may get a chance to test the Sunday bus service this weekend, as it is to be raining and sleeting when I wake up. If the sidewalks are not icy I will still walk but if there is ice on the ground I will have to take the bus...and my cane with the ice pick on the bottom so that I can walk more safely the three blocks between my bus stop and the church! My husband is doing five Sunday services of his own in the next 6 weeks, so I will have to be prepared to use the buses until he is free to drive me in the snow conditions.
Friday I am going out for lunch with one of my husband's cousins. Sometimes the choice of restaurants is "interesting", haha, but I have eaten at the place of her choice before and I know there is one menu item in particular that I can safely eat and enjoy. She is quite a bubbly sort of gal and we always have fun when we get together.
Saturday some cousins from the other side of my husband's family are coming for dinner. One of them is moving here to Regina for a job at a hospital and her father is coming to move her furniture. It has been several years since we have had a chance to see her father and we are very excited to have a visit after such a long time. I am pleased my husband has some kind of relationship with at least a few of his cousins, since I have so few relationships with any of mine and the ones I do have consist of communications that are few and far between...yes, partly my own fault. I admit it. I didn't have a chance to get to know either of the two cousins I chat with/see on occasion until we were all older adults, and we all have busy lives and geographical distance to deal with.
And then it is Sunday once again....where does the time go, right?? WOW! Life is flying by and that is okay.
Monday night we had some new friends over for dinner and my attempts to prepare a vegan meal were enjoyed and appreciated. The conversation was interesting and my friend brought her guitar so she could sing for us a song she wrote based on Psalms 62 and 63 that is so lovely and inspiring. Her husband is a retired pastor so he and my husband had lots to talk about. It was a happy evening.
Old Testament discussion group was also very good yesterday. We have two new people coming to the group, neither of them have much in the way of theological education...like myself....and we all appreciate that those who do, such as our leader and my husband, do not talk over our heads nor dominate the discussions. It is a group of people who truly want to be more familiar with the Old Testament and how it is relevent to our own beliefs about God today.
Once a month, usually on the last day of the month, my husband and I go out for a hamburger and fries....our carb and fats treat. Tonight we went to the Knotted Thistle pub and enjoyed their Guiness burger and yam fries. They are very accommodating there as far as leaving cheese off the burgers, salt off the fries and even serving me my burger with all the trimmings, but sans bun. It was lots of fun. We talked a lot about what may be coming...or not....in the future and it is always encouraging to me that each time we have faced the process of stepping out in faith in regard to giving up a ministry or other work position before we know what the next one is going to be, we have been thinking so alike. We have been "on the same page" for each of these processes.
Tomorrow morning I have a mammogram appointment, quite early in the morning. I am glad to get it over with and have the rest of my day to do some housework. The weather may be less than dry and spectacular tomorrow, so it will be nice to get home and park the car before everything gets too soggy outside. Church choir rehearsal is happening tomorrow evening and I am looking forward to it after our break last week. Wonder what we will be singing Sunday morning? I may get a chance to test the Sunday bus service this weekend, as it is to be raining and sleeting when I wake up. If the sidewalks are not icy I will still walk but if there is ice on the ground I will have to take the bus...and my cane with the ice pick on the bottom so that I can walk more safely the three blocks between my bus stop and the church! My husband is doing five Sunday services of his own in the next 6 weeks, so I will have to be prepared to use the buses until he is free to drive me in the snow conditions.
Friday I am going out for lunch with one of my husband's cousins. Sometimes the choice of restaurants is "interesting", haha, but I have eaten at the place of her choice before and I know there is one menu item in particular that I can safely eat and enjoy. She is quite a bubbly sort of gal and we always have fun when we get together.
Saturday some cousins from the other side of my husband's family are coming for dinner. One of them is moving here to Regina for a job at a hospital and her father is coming to move her furniture. It has been several years since we have had a chance to see her father and we are very excited to have a visit after such a long time. I am pleased my husband has some kind of relationship with at least a few of his cousins, since I have so few relationships with any of mine and the ones I do have consist of communications that are few and far between...yes, partly my own fault. I admit it. I didn't have a chance to get to know either of the two cousins I chat with/see on occasion until we were all older adults, and we all have busy lives and geographical distance to deal with.
And then it is Sunday once again....where does the time go, right?? WOW! Life is flying by and that is okay.
Monday, October 29, 2018
Why We Will NOT Be Watching Canada's Worst Driver Season 14!
For the past 13 seasons my husband and I have enjoyed watching Discovery Channel's Canada's Worst Driver. We were pleased to see it listed to return this very evening for its new season.
Our excitement in watching this programme began to wane 15 minutes into the show and by the half hour mark we had stopped recording it and erased not only what we had all ready recorded, but cancelled the recording of the entire series.
This season in particular, the programme seems to be less about seeing very bad drivers learn how to rehabilitate their actual driving skills, deal with their fears behind the wheel and adjust some poor attitudes, than it is about drawing the audience into a position of becoming voyeurs to seven people with little to zero social intelligence and, we would venture the opinion that the degree of denial of some of the participants about their own attitudes, their refusal to connect with reality, actually indicates a degree of mental illness.
We have no desire to follow the supposed driving rehab journey of a young mom who not only has had a very serious car accident while driving with her daughter in the car, but doesn't seem to care enough about her daughter's life to even want to change her dangerous driving. She is so self absorbed about her own self-proclaimed inability to care if she changes her driving or not, her declaration that she wishes she actually cared about changing, that I have to admit my initial reaction was to hope that someone who lives in her town and sees this initial episode will contact Social Services and file a request for an investigation into possible child neglect. The feeling I had in the pit of my stomach after watching her segment of the show was the same one I had yesterday when I watched in horror as a speeding car hit and killed a squirrel on my walk home from lunch.
Another young mom with two young children cannot pull her eyes off her cell phone long enough to drive safely and is also endangering her family. Again, she seems to have no concept of reality as to what could happen to those dear children should an even more serious accident occur, nor does she seem to care.
One young fellow has such serious anger management issues his own mother is afraid of him. He proved that he has the ability to drive extremely well on his first rehab driving assignment, so if he had some anger management help he could be an excellent driver. I hold out the most hope for him of the seven contestants.
Another young man has only had a driver's license for 10 months and has totalled 5 cars all ready. He seems to compulsively run red lights as a matter of course and talks as though this is completely normal and why should it bother other people if he drives that way?
A former truck driver is part of this most motley and frightening crew. A serious accident that happened to her some time ago has apparently caused a complete nervous breakdown as she is unable to drive without severe, excessive fear reactions that leave her apparently unable to drive in the correct lanes, cause her to start crying for no reason, and leave her sometimes unable to talk to the people in the vehicle with her without losing her temper and blaming them for whatever dreadful driving error she has just made.
These people, for the most part, do not need driving rehabiliation first and foremost in our opinion. They need to be in mental health programmes at their nearest psychiatric facility.
My husband and I have no interest in being voyeurs into their dysfunctional lives. The idea that we should find such people entertaining to watch is abhorrent.
We both felt physically ill and emotionally disquieted by the time we shut off the programme. For us personally, this is NOT entertainment.
The name of the author escapes me at the moment, (was it John Bly in Iron John?) but I remember reading some time ago that many people these days, for a multitude of reasons, have lost their ability to shudder when they see horrible things, to no longer feel a need to back away from things that should disgust or frighten them, showing a disconnect to reality. I have not been more aware of that possibility than I was this evening, attempting to watch this programme....the show's participants may not be shuddering over the dangers they pose to society and their own families, but I was shuddering to the point of nausea! Blecch!!
Well...one less tv show to spend my time in front of when I could be doing something more constructive I suppose......
Our excitement in watching this programme began to wane 15 minutes into the show and by the half hour mark we had stopped recording it and erased not only what we had all ready recorded, but cancelled the recording of the entire series.
This season in particular, the programme seems to be less about seeing very bad drivers learn how to rehabilitate their actual driving skills, deal with their fears behind the wheel and adjust some poor attitudes, than it is about drawing the audience into a position of becoming voyeurs to seven people with little to zero social intelligence and, we would venture the opinion that the degree of denial of some of the participants about their own attitudes, their refusal to connect with reality, actually indicates a degree of mental illness.
We have no desire to follow the supposed driving rehab journey of a young mom who not only has had a very serious car accident while driving with her daughter in the car, but doesn't seem to care enough about her daughter's life to even want to change her dangerous driving. She is so self absorbed about her own self-proclaimed inability to care if she changes her driving or not, her declaration that she wishes she actually cared about changing, that I have to admit my initial reaction was to hope that someone who lives in her town and sees this initial episode will contact Social Services and file a request for an investigation into possible child neglect. The feeling I had in the pit of my stomach after watching her segment of the show was the same one I had yesterday when I watched in horror as a speeding car hit and killed a squirrel on my walk home from lunch.
Another young mom with two young children cannot pull her eyes off her cell phone long enough to drive safely and is also endangering her family. Again, she seems to have no concept of reality as to what could happen to those dear children should an even more serious accident occur, nor does she seem to care.
One young fellow has such serious anger management issues his own mother is afraid of him. He proved that he has the ability to drive extremely well on his first rehab driving assignment, so if he had some anger management help he could be an excellent driver. I hold out the most hope for him of the seven contestants.
Another young man has only had a driver's license for 10 months and has totalled 5 cars all ready. He seems to compulsively run red lights as a matter of course and talks as though this is completely normal and why should it bother other people if he drives that way?
A former truck driver is part of this most motley and frightening crew. A serious accident that happened to her some time ago has apparently caused a complete nervous breakdown as she is unable to drive without severe, excessive fear reactions that leave her apparently unable to drive in the correct lanes, cause her to start crying for no reason, and leave her sometimes unable to talk to the people in the vehicle with her without losing her temper and blaming them for whatever dreadful driving error she has just made.
These people, for the most part, do not need driving rehabiliation first and foremost in our opinion. They need to be in mental health programmes at their nearest psychiatric facility.
My husband and I have no interest in being voyeurs into their dysfunctional lives. The idea that we should find such people entertaining to watch is abhorrent.
We both felt physically ill and emotionally disquieted by the time we shut off the programme. For us personally, this is NOT entertainment.
The name of the author escapes me at the moment, (was it John Bly in Iron John?) but I remember reading some time ago that many people these days, for a multitude of reasons, have lost their ability to shudder when they see horrible things, to no longer feel a need to back away from things that should disgust or frighten them, showing a disconnect to reality. I have not been more aware of that possibility than I was this evening, attempting to watch this programme....the show's participants may not be shuddering over the dangers they pose to society and their own families, but I was shuddering to the point of nausea! Blecch!!
Well...one less tv show to spend my time in front of when I could be doing something more constructive I suppose......
Sunday, October 28, 2018
JalaKala Gift Shop Regina
Last week I had a delightful half hour browsing at our newest "neighbourhood" oriental gift shop, JalaKala Gifts. It is located on Broad Street south, a block south of the Shoppers' Drug Mart on 14th Ave., in the space where Mata Gallery used to be.
The store had only been open for a day and a half when I was there and I was the second customer. What a lovely little store and it is owned and operated by a younger Chinese couple. She helped me pick out a few items from their small stock of gifts and what a grand time we had chatting together. She is a lovely woman and so helpful.
The prices on their stock seem most reasonable to me. They have a large display case of carved rosewood combs; the wood scent supposedly lasts forever with proper care such as cleaning them with light oils and not water. They are only fifteen dollars each. I also found a tiny vase that is deliberately misshapen for effect and in such a way as to draw attention to the handpainted flower pattern on the front of it. Well, she was determined it had not been done deliberately and was a most embarrassing mistake to have sitting on their shelves. Her price for me taking it off her hands: two dollars! How could I say no!?? It is now sitting jauntily on my piano keyboard, cute as a bug's rear end!
There is a wall partly covered in hand painted Chinese fans. There is a write up about the artist, who is going to be teaching classes in fan painting in the store very soon. They are lovely, but I am afraid most of the prairie people who live here will not have an appreciation for why each fan costs one hundred dollars. Hopefully there will be a sufficient influx of oriental customers who will not find that price excessive. They really are lovely fans.
I think I will continue to scope out this little store when next I require a nice gift for someone who enjoys the oriental style of giftware. If nothing else it will be another opportunity to visit with the properietress who speaks excellent English and has a most interesting story about coming to Canada. She has been here less than one year and seems very interested to know more about the province and about Regina. Here's hoping she and her husband can succeed in this space that may be just a bit out of the way for serious gift shoppers who will be more likely to concentrate their efforts a few blocks farther away in the central downtown core.
The store had only been open for a day and a half when I was there and I was the second customer. What a lovely little store and it is owned and operated by a younger Chinese couple. She helped me pick out a few items from their small stock of gifts and what a grand time we had chatting together. She is a lovely woman and so helpful.
The prices on their stock seem most reasonable to me. They have a large display case of carved rosewood combs; the wood scent supposedly lasts forever with proper care such as cleaning them with light oils and not water. They are only fifteen dollars each. I also found a tiny vase that is deliberately misshapen for effect and in such a way as to draw attention to the handpainted flower pattern on the front of it. Well, she was determined it had not been done deliberately and was a most embarrassing mistake to have sitting on their shelves. Her price for me taking it off her hands: two dollars! How could I say no!?? It is now sitting jauntily on my piano keyboard, cute as a bug's rear end!
There is a wall partly covered in hand painted Chinese fans. There is a write up about the artist, who is going to be teaching classes in fan painting in the store very soon. They are lovely, but I am afraid most of the prairie people who live here will not have an appreciation for why each fan costs one hundred dollars. Hopefully there will be a sufficient influx of oriental customers who will not find that price excessive. They really are lovely fans.
I think I will continue to scope out this little store when next I require a nice gift for someone who enjoys the oriental style of giftware. If nothing else it will be another opportunity to visit with the properietress who speaks excellent English and has a most interesting story about coming to Canada. She has been here less than one year and seems very interested to know more about the province and about Regina. Here's hoping she and her husband can succeed in this space that may be just a bit out of the way for serious gift shoppers who will be more likely to concentrate their efforts a few blocks farther away in the central downtown core.
Good Times Have Been Had By All This Weekend
The weather continues to amaze us: so warm, light on wind, sunny, dry....fantastic. By next Thursday, November 1, we will be back on the slide into winter with a 10 degree drop in the daily forecast highs and much colder overnight temperatures, maybe even a touch of snow later in the week. No surprise....the beautiful, bright harvest moon of this past week is on the wane. What a blessing most of this past month has been for weather; thank you Lord for this great time before the real winter appears. The forecast freezing rain on Saturday morning never did materialize and I am grateful!
The IG Wealth Management (as it is now going to be called) comedy tour was absolutely hilarious on Friday evening. Hearing three comedians in a row who are so funny and were able to keep their routines pretty clean was a real treat. Now I don't ever want to hear any of them do their regular comedy club routines because hearing the cussing and the dirtier jokes would spoil my impression of them. It was a total blast and the friends who took us seemed to enjoy it as much as we did. Some of the physical comedy was brilliant. With a tasty dinner together first, the four of us had fun.
Saturday I planned to stay home and clean our suite thoroughly....yeah....didn't happen. My husband had a nearly six hour round trip to make into the southeast corner of our dear province to have some meetings and do other diocesan business. He needed a driver and desperately wanted the companionship, so away I went with him.
We had a great time! Although there was some rain that has left our car in need of a cleaning again, there was no ice, the afternoon temperature rose well above zero and there was little traffic heading in our same direction on both legs of the journey.
We stopped for lunch in Estevan at The Tower. I had the best beef dip I have eaten in a very long time....lovely shaved beef with very little fat and no gristle to ruin the meal. My husband had the worst orzo soup he has ever eaten, but he did enjoy his pita that was stuffed full of freshly grilled chicken and veggies.
I found myself wandering about the teeny town of Oxbow for the afternoon! There was nowhere for me to go during my husband's main meeting where I would not be in the way, so rather than sit in the car for a couple of hours, I decided to check out the main street. hahaha It was a riot! The businesses on the main street cover the first two blocks and all of them were closed, even the pharmacy, except for a lovely wee gift store (Yes, I felt obligated to buy something because the clerk was so forlorn standing there all alone with no customers whatsoever that day until I arrived!), and the Chinese diner.....natch.....
I decided to stop into the diner for a drink and spend a bit of time catching up on this coming week's Old Testament readings. Since I had taken our new book by John Goldingay along and a note pad, I passed a most pleasant time in there reading, making notes and talking to Connie the proprietress. The egg roll I didn't need, but I discovered I needed to purchase food in order to be allowed to stay and read. hahaha Seemed a bit ludicrous since there was no one else in there until ten minutes before I left, but that is okay. It was better than sitting in the car AND there was a washroom on site, haha.
I got back to the car about twenty minutes prior to the end of my husband's meeting, so finished my novel just before he arrived. Then we drove a few blocks away to the rectory and church building, both of which needed my husband to inspect them as they are about to be put up for sale. The earlier meeting was about the timeline for deconsecrating the building now that the parish has decided they do not have sufficient members to remain open. More death throes in small town Saskatchewan. Really sad to see the depopulation of that area as well. The rectory has kind of a cool floor plan and if we had some way to buy it and move it onto a lot somewhere, we would enjoy fixing it up. Lots of space, big rooms...yes, how I would love to live in a house like that once again....dream on sister, hahaha.
On the way home we returned to Estevan for dinner at Eddie Websters. We like to go there because we can purchase glasses of wine from wineries that a friend of ours represents. It is a small way of supporting him. The food was very good. I wasn't that hungry so ordered chicken fingers with a side of dill and onion soup. The soup was so tasty and the chicken fingers were coated in good Japanese panko. They were very crisp, not greasy and there was a lot of meat on those three "fingers".
I was concerned about my food intake because of the complete lack of exercise yesterday and the amount of extra sodium I ingested due to eating two meals in restaurants, but I slept without waking up for over six hours last night. That is a good sign that my body was not in distress.
This morning we walked to church. It might be one of my last Sundays to be walking to service as the temperatures will be so much lower by next weekend and we may have those infernal ice covered winter sidewalks to contend with. What a good walk and talk we had. Church was good. Since the choir was not doing an anthem, I opted to sit in the pews with my husband so he wouldn't be all alone. We both enjoyed the sermon, the music and the friendly folk at coffee hour afterward. Good friends invited us then to come and have lunch with them at Ripplinger's art gallery and cafe as they had a coupon to use up. That was fun. This couple is always fun to visit with. The food was excellent: spicy Thai soup that was actually both spicy AND Thai, butternut squash soup that is my favourite, half chicken salad sandwiches on fresh whole wheat bread, properly heated wraps, lightly dressed caesar salads...AND a dish of sticky toffee pudding that all four of us shared for dessert. We didn't get home until 3:30pm!
After our walk home from the restaurant, which I badly needed after so much soup, I drove over to the grocery store to pick up the rest of the ingredients needed for the vegan meal I am making for our friends tomorrow evening. The spaghetti will be easy enough but I had a hard time finding a vegan dessert that didn't either take forever to make or had an ingredient list that didn't include oats, corn products or coconut milk, none of which my husband and I can have. hahaha It is becoming more and more difficult to cook for company or to have others cook for us as allergies, sensitivies and other special diets are required for so many people these days.
Now my husband is laying on the bed, ear buds jammed into his ears, so he can listen to last Sunday's sermon at my church that he missed while he was doing services elsewhere. That sermon was written and presented by the fellow who is coming over for dinner here tomorrow evening and since they don't know each other at all yet, it will give them something to discuss. It will be a fun evening I am sure as both he and his wife are so very nice.
After our dinner tonight we have a couple of choices as to how to spend the evening: sit around on the sofa and watch the latest televised Daniel Jacobs fight, or walk a couple of blocks to the neighbourhood apostolic church with a congregation who are mostly African and who sent representatives around yesterday at some point to hang invitations to this evening's service on the doorknobs of everyone in our complex. Hmmmm....both are very inviting, but how can we be in two places at the same time? hahaha Having choices is nice......
Tomorrow will be a whirlwind of activity between having to prepare the spaghetti meal and get the table set up for company while doing all the house cleaning I didn't do yesterday, all while my husband has a day off and will be underfoot and have expectations of possibly spending time with his wife. hahahaha I have a suspicion that the cleaning will consist of a quick dusting and vaccuming of the downstairs, scrubbing the bathroom and shutting all three bedroom doors upstairs until I can clean those rooms the following day, hahahaha. Aiiiii yiiiiii....when I am driving my husband around the province and having a ton of fun with friends the rest of the time, there is no time to do any work of my own!! (What a treat! I have had to wait long enough to have local friends again, that is for sure!)
Well, what to have for a very light supper this evening....time to go and figure it out! And after dinner....guess we will wait and see.
The IG Wealth Management (as it is now going to be called) comedy tour was absolutely hilarious on Friday evening. Hearing three comedians in a row who are so funny and were able to keep their routines pretty clean was a real treat. Now I don't ever want to hear any of them do their regular comedy club routines because hearing the cussing and the dirtier jokes would spoil my impression of them. It was a total blast and the friends who took us seemed to enjoy it as much as we did. Some of the physical comedy was brilliant. With a tasty dinner together first, the four of us had fun.
Saturday I planned to stay home and clean our suite thoroughly....yeah....didn't happen. My husband had a nearly six hour round trip to make into the southeast corner of our dear province to have some meetings and do other diocesan business. He needed a driver and desperately wanted the companionship, so away I went with him.
We had a great time! Although there was some rain that has left our car in need of a cleaning again, there was no ice, the afternoon temperature rose well above zero and there was little traffic heading in our same direction on both legs of the journey.
We stopped for lunch in Estevan at The Tower. I had the best beef dip I have eaten in a very long time....lovely shaved beef with very little fat and no gristle to ruin the meal. My husband had the worst orzo soup he has ever eaten, but he did enjoy his pita that was stuffed full of freshly grilled chicken and veggies.
I found myself wandering about the teeny town of Oxbow for the afternoon! There was nowhere for me to go during my husband's main meeting where I would not be in the way, so rather than sit in the car for a couple of hours, I decided to check out the main street. hahaha It was a riot! The businesses on the main street cover the first two blocks and all of them were closed, even the pharmacy, except for a lovely wee gift store (Yes, I felt obligated to buy something because the clerk was so forlorn standing there all alone with no customers whatsoever that day until I arrived!), and the Chinese diner.....natch.....
I decided to stop into the diner for a drink and spend a bit of time catching up on this coming week's Old Testament readings. Since I had taken our new book by John Goldingay along and a note pad, I passed a most pleasant time in there reading, making notes and talking to Connie the proprietress. The egg roll I didn't need, but I discovered I needed to purchase food in order to be allowed to stay and read. hahaha Seemed a bit ludicrous since there was no one else in there until ten minutes before I left, but that is okay. It was better than sitting in the car AND there was a washroom on site, haha.
I got back to the car about twenty minutes prior to the end of my husband's meeting, so finished my novel just before he arrived. Then we drove a few blocks away to the rectory and church building, both of which needed my husband to inspect them as they are about to be put up for sale. The earlier meeting was about the timeline for deconsecrating the building now that the parish has decided they do not have sufficient members to remain open. More death throes in small town Saskatchewan. Really sad to see the depopulation of that area as well. The rectory has kind of a cool floor plan and if we had some way to buy it and move it onto a lot somewhere, we would enjoy fixing it up. Lots of space, big rooms...yes, how I would love to live in a house like that once again....dream on sister, hahaha.
On the way home we returned to Estevan for dinner at Eddie Websters. We like to go there because we can purchase glasses of wine from wineries that a friend of ours represents. It is a small way of supporting him. The food was very good. I wasn't that hungry so ordered chicken fingers with a side of dill and onion soup. The soup was so tasty and the chicken fingers were coated in good Japanese panko. They were very crisp, not greasy and there was a lot of meat on those three "fingers".
I was concerned about my food intake because of the complete lack of exercise yesterday and the amount of extra sodium I ingested due to eating two meals in restaurants, but I slept without waking up for over six hours last night. That is a good sign that my body was not in distress.
This morning we walked to church. It might be one of my last Sundays to be walking to service as the temperatures will be so much lower by next weekend and we may have those infernal ice covered winter sidewalks to contend with. What a good walk and talk we had. Church was good. Since the choir was not doing an anthem, I opted to sit in the pews with my husband so he wouldn't be all alone. We both enjoyed the sermon, the music and the friendly folk at coffee hour afterward. Good friends invited us then to come and have lunch with them at Ripplinger's art gallery and cafe as they had a coupon to use up. That was fun. This couple is always fun to visit with. The food was excellent: spicy Thai soup that was actually both spicy AND Thai, butternut squash soup that is my favourite, half chicken salad sandwiches on fresh whole wheat bread, properly heated wraps, lightly dressed caesar salads...AND a dish of sticky toffee pudding that all four of us shared for dessert. We didn't get home until 3:30pm!
After our walk home from the restaurant, which I badly needed after so much soup, I drove over to the grocery store to pick up the rest of the ingredients needed for the vegan meal I am making for our friends tomorrow evening. The spaghetti will be easy enough but I had a hard time finding a vegan dessert that didn't either take forever to make or had an ingredient list that didn't include oats, corn products or coconut milk, none of which my husband and I can have. hahaha It is becoming more and more difficult to cook for company or to have others cook for us as allergies, sensitivies and other special diets are required for so many people these days.
Now my husband is laying on the bed, ear buds jammed into his ears, so he can listen to last Sunday's sermon at my church that he missed while he was doing services elsewhere. That sermon was written and presented by the fellow who is coming over for dinner here tomorrow evening and since they don't know each other at all yet, it will give them something to discuss. It will be a fun evening I am sure as both he and his wife are so very nice.
After our dinner tonight we have a couple of choices as to how to spend the evening: sit around on the sofa and watch the latest televised Daniel Jacobs fight, or walk a couple of blocks to the neighbourhood apostolic church with a congregation who are mostly African and who sent representatives around yesterday at some point to hang invitations to this evening's service on the doorknobs of everyone in our complex. Hmmmm....both are very inviting, but how can we be in two places at the same time? hahaha Having choices is nice......
Tomorrow will be a whirlwind of activity between having to prepare the spaghetti meal and get the table set up for company while doing all the house cleaning I didn't do yesterday, all while my husband has a day off and will be underfoot and have expectations of possibly spending time with his wife. hahahaha I have a suspicion that the cleaning will consist of a quick dusting and vaccuming of the downstairs, scrubbing the bathroom and shutting all three bedroom doors upstairs until I can clean those rooms the following day, hahahaha. Aiiiii yiiiiii....when I am driving my husband around the province and having a ton of fun with friends the rest of the time, there is no time to do any work of my own!! (What a treat! I have had to wait long enough to have local friends again, that is for sure!)
Well, what to have for a very light supper this evening....time to go and figure it out! And after dinner....guess we will wait and see.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
A Short Burst of Gunfire
A few nights ago my husband and I were startled when a short burst of gunfire erupted only a few blocks from our home. There were a half dozen shots and then there was eerie silence.
Today we learned that a college aged man had been shot and passed away from his injuries the next morning.
Sigh....
We know nothing else about the circumstances surrounding this incident, whether the man who died was involved in criminal activity or not, but we are so very sad for the young man and his family and friends.
This area is pretty quiet as a rule. Shootings tend to happen regularly in a couple of other parts of the city, but this one was a bit of a shock for everyone here.
So sad....a young life ended all ready. It makes me teary. All the news of victims of shootings and stabbings in this city brings me to tears.
The morning after it happened I had to go for a walk rather early and I admit I was a bit nervous, not knowing if the shooters had been located, if they were still around and looking for more people to point guns at. The streets were rather empty of other pedestrians and that certainly added to my paranoia. However, the beautiful weather soon drove such dark thoughts from my mind, thank goodness.
Violent crime here seems to be on the rise...very, very sad....
Today we learned that a college aged man had been shot and passed away from his injuries the next morning.
Sigh....
We know nothing else about the circumstances surrounding this incident, whether the man who died was involved in criminal activity or not, but we are so very sad for the young man and his family and friends.
This area is pretty quiet as a rule. Shootings tend to happen regularly in a couple of other parts of the city, but this one was a bit of a shock for everyone here.
So sad....a young life ended all ready. It makes me teary. All the news of victims of shootings and stabbings in this city brings me to tears.
The morning after it happened I had to go for a walk rather early and I admit I was a bit nervous, not knowing if the shooters had been located, if they were still around and looking for more people to point guns at. The streets were rather empty of other pedestrians and that certainly added to my paranoia. However, the beautiful weather soon drove such dark thoughts from my mind, thank goodness.
Violent crime here seems to be on the rise...very, very sad....
A Wonderful Surprise Gift!!
A couple of hours ago a Purolator truck pulled up outside our suite and in short order a cardboard book box appeared between our back doors.
Inside the box was a marvellous new book by John Goldingay titled "The First Testament". Goldingay has translated the Old Testament "word for word" from the Hebrew, attempting to retain the various idioms and particulary Jewish viewpoints that do not translate all that well into English. YIPPEE!!
Turns out the book is from the leader of our Old Testament discussion group. She was telling us about the book after our session this past Tuesday and we were quite excited about it. (Of course she knows John Goldingay personally...are there any OT scholars alive on this planet that she DOESN'T know? She is an amazing woman and so scholarly herself!) Anyway, she wanted to do something nice for us and so surprised us with a copy! We have all ready begun reading it. How timely that it should be here on a day off for my husband!
I can't think of a better surprise! We are both looking forward to this more Hebrew take on Hebrew scriptures!
Thank you dear friend....what a treat for us! It is so appreciated; not only the book but the kind words that accompanied it.
Inside the box was a marvellous new book by John Goldingay titled "The First Testament". Goldingay has translated the Old Testament "word for word" from the Hebrew, attempting to retain the various idioms and particulary Jewish viewpoints that do not translate all that well into English. YIPPEE!!
Turns out the book is from the leader of our Old Testament discussion group. She was telling us about the book after our session this past Tuesday and we were quite excited about it. (Of course she knows John Goldingay personally...are there any OT scholars alive on this planet that she DOESN'T know? She is an amazing woman and so scholarly herself!) Anyway, she wanted to do something nice for us and so surprised us with a copy! We have all ready begun reading it. How timely that it should be here on a day off for my husband!
I can't think of a better surprise! We are both looking forward to this more Hebrew take on Hebrew scriptures!
Thank you dear friend....what a treat for us! It is so appreciated; not only the book but the kind words that accompanied it.
The Weather Forecast I Dread Most...It's Coming....Sigh....
This afternoon's revised forecast for Saturday is for the dreaded freezing rain to begin early in the morning while the temperatures are still slightly below zero. Yuck...AND that is supposed to be a travelling day for my husband, if not for both of us.
The good news, at least so far, is that the rain is going to continue until about 11am when the temperature should have risen to above zero. We have to leave by 10am, so hopefully the continued rain coupled with warmer temperatures will have melted the actual ice by then.
Drat...just what we need...something more to worry about in the near future....sigh.....
Although I am positive about life in general, a freezing rain forecast is enough to derail my joy at least temporarily...it is my worst nightmare at this time of year and I AM grateful to have made it this far into the autumn without experiencing it yet.
Freezing rain stuck all over sidewalks and roads is an osteoporosis sufferer's worst nightmare. We don't dare take so much as a step outside the doors of our homes if there is any ice on the ground.
Well, I am going to concentrate on the possibility that the forecast could change yet again in the next 36 or so hours and trust the Lord that if we are out there skating around on icy highways on the weekend that we will stay safe. At least people in this province are used to meetings having to be cancelled, or at least the actual participants changing due to weather and road conditions.
There, I've had my annual post about my fear of freezing rain. "Nuff said!
The good news, at least so far, is that the rain is going to continue until about 11am when the temperature should have risen to above zero. We have to leave by 10am, so hopefully the continued rain coupled with warmer temperatures will have melted the actual ice by then.
Drat...just what we need...something more to worry about in the near future....sigh.....
Although I am positive about life in general, a freezing rain forecast is enough to derail my joy at least temporarily...it is my worst nightmare at this time of year and I AM grateful to have made it this far into the autumn without experiencing it yet.
Freezing rain stuck all over sidewalks and roads is an osteoporosis sufferer's worst nightmare. We don't dare take so much as a step outside the doors of our homes if there is any ice on the ground.
Well, I am going to concentrate on the possibility that the forecast could change yet again in the next 36 or so hours and trust the Lord that if we are out there skating around on icy highways on the weekend that we will stay safe. At least people in this province are used to meetings having to be cancelled, or at least the actual participants changing due to weather and road conditions.
There, I've had my annual post about my fear of freezing rain. "Nuff said!
At Least It Is Better Than the Same Old, Same Old!
The first half of today has gone well and we got to do something a bit different than just sitting around staring at the tv, or reading, or doing computer "stuff" to begin a day off for my husband.
I had to fast overnight for some blood tests this morning, so I decided to try eating my normal evening snack at 9pm, then not going into the lab until 10am, after the rush would likely be over for those of us who don't tend to schedule appointments ahead of time. It worked well. We both had a chance to sleep in until nearly 8am, rather than me waking both of us up, in order for me to race out to our parking lot before 6:30am to scrape the frost off the car windshield, drive to the lab and stand in line with a dozen others outside the lab door, freezing in the dark for the better part of a half hour until opening time at 7am. Today, I had less than 10 minutes to wait before my blood was drawn and we were able to step next door to Abstractions for some lentil soup and London Fog to get my blood sugar back up. We also shared a nice tomato wrap filled with chickpeas and pinto beans and tomato/onion salsa. Yum!! I felt so good after that lovely and inexpensive meal. My husband also had a half turkey panini sandwich and our meal was less than twenty-five dollars. It is a great place for a nice middle eastern snack at a reasonable price.
From there we walked a few more blocks to a couple of downtown banks to do some pay day business, then a nice long walk back to my husband's office on our way home. When we got to the bank we discovered my husband had been accidentally overpaid by quite a bit. Long story..... Aiiii yiiiii....We went over to the office so I could write a cheque and return the overpayment immediately. The change of route home from downtown was rather nice.
Again this morning we had very little wind to contend with, so despite the temperature still being slightly below zero for the first half of our walk, we were comfortable and so enjoyed the exercise.
My meal times will be a bit off track all day, but that is okay. I have decided I far prefer laying around in bed, readng and conserving my energy after a sleeping-in morning, than racing out in the cold darkness of the early morning hours for lab work just so I can still eat breakfast prior to 8am.
So, lunch will be at 2:30pm today and supper around 7pm. It is working out well for my husband's day off. We can be on the same meal schedule together.
Tomorrow evening is dinner out at Fired Up Grill with friends who will then take us to the Investor's Group Comedy Night over at Conexus. Really looking forward to the whole evening.
Saturday my husband has a LONG drive out of town for diocesan meetings and it is possible he will need me to come along to help with the driving. Hmmm....not sure in that case how I am going to get my house cleaned and get started on some vegan food preparation for our company on Monday, but I am sure I can utilize part of tomorrow to clean, even if my husband is home again for what should be his other day off this week. Here's hoping it all works out without a lot of time frame stress.
Last night we were up until after midnight talking on the phone with our son and getting his flights set up for his visit in December. He will only be here a very few days, but we are going to make those days as packed with possible activities as we can come up with. Actually, more likely, he just wants to lay around and rest and do some pondering as to his work options for the following year, but that is okay. At least we will be prepared with some ideas and he can take advantage of them or not. Very excited to have him so happy to come for a short visit. We found better deals on his air fare by booking only one way trips. Flights that were not available when booking round trips, popped up by the dozen when only booking for one way excursions. WE saved a lot of money as a result and HE has been saved a couple of wickedly long layovers between connecting flights. Yay!
I finally seem to have my diet back under control. The past two days I have felt very focused again, at last, to paying attention to my total food intake. While I have watched my carbs pretty closely, I have overamped on the proteins and even the veggies, eating far more than I need at too many meals. No wonder I haven't been able to shed the last 6 or 7 pounds I have needed to take off since June.
We continue to have peace about our very unstable, unpredictable future. Hallelujah for that and long may it last!!!
I had to fast overnight for some blood tests this morning, so I decided to try eating my normal evening snack at 9pm, then not going into the lab until 10am, after the rush would likely be over for those of us who don't tend to schedule appointments ahead of time. It worked well. We both had a chance to sleep in until nearly 8am, rather than me waking both of us up, in order for me to race out to our parking lot before 6:30am to scrape the frost off the car windshield, drive to the lab and stand in line with a dozen others outside the lab door, freezing in the dark for the better part of a half hour until opening time at 7am. Today, I had less than 10 minutes to wait before my blood was drawn and we were able to step next door to Abstractions for some lentil soup and London Fog to get my blood sugar back up. We also shared a nice tomato wrap filled with chickpeas and pinto beans and tomato/onion salsa. Yum!! I felt so good after that lovely and inexpensive meal. My husband also had a half turkey panini sandwich and our meal was less than twenty-five dollars. It is a great place for a nice middle eastern snack at a reasonable price.
From there we walked a few more blocks to a couple of downtown banks to do some pay day business, then a nice long walk back to my husband's office on our way home. When we got to the bank we discovered my husband had been accidentally overpaid by quite a bit. Long story..... Aiiii yiiiii....We went over to the office so I could write a cheque and return the overpayment immediately. The change of route home from downtown was rather nice.
Again this morning we had very little wind to contend with, so despite the temperature still being slightly below zero for the first half of our walk, we were comfortable and so enjoyed the exercise.
My meal times will be a bit off track all day, but that is okay. I have decided I far prefer laying around in bed, readng and conserving my energy after a sleeping-in morning, than racing out in the cold darkness of the early morning hours for lab work just so I can still eat breakfast prior to 8am.
So, lunch will be at 2:30pm today and supper around 7pm. It is working out well for my husband's day off. We can be on the same meal schedule together.
Tomorrow evening is dinner out at Fired Up Grill with friends who will then take us to the Investor's Group Comedy Night over at Conexus. Really looking forward to the whole evening.
Saturday my husband has a LONG drive out of town for diocesan meetings and it is possible he will need me to come along to help with the driving. Hmmm....not sure in that case how I am going to get my house cleaned and get started on some vegan food preparation for our company on Monday, but I am sure I can utilize part of tomorrow to clean, even if my husband is home again for what should be his other day off this week. Here's hoping it all works out without a lot of time frame stress.
Last night we were up until after midnight talking on the phone with our son and getting his flights set up for his visit in December. He will only be here a very few days, but we are going to make those days as packed with possible activities as we can come up with. Actually, more likely, he just wants to lay around and rest and do some pondering as to his work options for the following year, but that is okay. At least we will be prepared with some ideas and he can take advantage of them or not. Very excited to have him so happy to come for a short visit. We found better deals on his air fare by booking only one way trips. Flights that were not available when booking round trips, popped up by the dozen when only booking for one way excursions. WE saved a lot of money as a result and HE has been saved a couple of wickedly long layovers between connecting flights. Yay!
I finally seem to have my diet back under control. The past two days I have felt very focused again, at last, to paying attention to my total food intake. While I have watched my carbs pretty closely, I have overamped on the proteins and even the veggies, eating far more than I need at too many meals. No wonder I haven't been able to shed the last 6 or 7 pounds I have needed to take off since June.
We continue to have peace about our very unstable, unpredictable future. Hallelujah for that and long may it last!!!
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
These Days Are Made Fer Walkin', So That's Just What I'll Do!
Currently it is +10C with a forecast high later this afternoon of +14C....AMAZING!
This morning I walked out fairly early to go downtown for a haircut. It was only -1C, so I had to wear gloves to keep my hands warm in the chilly breeze, but the sky was and still is a clear autumn blue...nary a cloud to be seen anywhere. SO BEAUTIFUL! I deliberately walked the longest possible route downtown and back just so I could enjoy the exercise in such wonderful October weather. I don't know if it is politically correct any more to call this past few weeks "Indian summer", but it is that. Absolutely! Just gorgeous weather day after day. On Saturday and next Tuesday we are to have some rain showers, then the daytime highs will be dropping into the single digits, but still....if there is no ice on the ground I can still go out walking, just in warmer clothes and coats. FANTASTIC!!! I am so happy! Thank you Lord for this great weather that allows me to be outdoors so much.
After my lunch I couldn't stand to remain inside this suite after such a great walk this morning, so I hoofed it over to the neighbourhood grocery store for a couple of items, again taking the longest routes there and back. How marvellous to be out twice today. I am quite happy that we are having company next Monday, so I can leave the housecleaning until the weekend when my husband is at work and spend the next couple of days walking about the city once again.
I decided my husband needed a couple of treats to come home to today. So, I found a couple of boxes of his favourite Twinings Peppermint and Creamy Vanilla herb tea, as he is running out of it and you never know when a flavour is going to stop being produced. I stopped in at the closest SLG store as well and picked him up a 4 pack of Guiness Stout so he can have a treat on his next day off. He rarely drinks beer any more in order to assist his cholesterol to continue on its downward spiral, but a man needs a special treat on occasion and needs to know his wife is thinking of him during such a stressful time.
I can't think of anywhere else I need to walk today, so will try to settle in and do some home projects, but they will be done with all the window curtains and blinds wide open so I can continue to enjoy the glorious sunshine.
Tomorrow is payday so I will have a reason for a walk to the banks tomorrow. What fun!! Friday I am going to go out shopping for a few small treats for 3 of the neighbour children with whom I have a bit of a "next door neighbour" relationship. They are cute little duffers, aged 6, 3 and 2, so polite and conversational. My husband and I truly enjoy them. They are all going out for Halloween this year so I don't need to buy them any candy, but there are lots of little "goodies" for kids of those ages: small toys and dress up items are their favourites. So looking forward to it. What fun!
Wow....the post pounder is in full swing at a large construction site a couple of blocks from here. The whole suite is vibrating...second day in a row. At least it doesn't seem to go on for more than a half hour or so. I will be glad when that project is done...it is a renovation and expansion of the downtown campus for the local university, along with a new branch of a Credit Union bank. Wish it wasn't going to increase the vehicle and pedestrian traffic in our area as much as it is going to when it is finished. It will also increase the walking and biking traffic on the lakefront paths. Some people in the city tried to thwart the project, but of course were unsuccessful. Like so many cities, Regina is starting to lose what few bits of parkland it has within the city limits in order to increase the tax base and allow for expansion. Inevitable of course, but very sad.
I was also sad to see today, on my morning walk, the FOR LEASE signs now prominently displayed in the windows of what used to be a cookie bakery, a Brazilian jiu jitsu school, a mixed martial arts school, a Korean grocery and gift shop and an eyewear outlet. I hate to see any local businesses closing. It was a bit of a shock to see how many have closed out just in the past few weeks. The economy here must not be improving! A couple of restaurants have also disappeared recently. I feel badly for small business owners who just can't make a go of it these days. Having been small business owners and knowing the difficulties, makes my husband and I feel even worse for those who cannot stay open during economically difficult times.
Time to put the dishwasher on and get a few little home chores accomplished! Hope your day is going as well as my own.
This morning I walked out fairly early to go downtown for a haircut. It was only -1C, so I had to wear gloves to keep my hands warm in the chilly breeze, but the sky was and still is a clear autumn blue...nary a cloud to be seen anywhere. SO BEAUTIFUL! I deliberately walked the longest possible route downtown and back just so I could enjoy the exercise in such wonderful October weather. I don't know if it is politically correct any more to call this past few weeks "Indian summer", but it is that. Absolutely! Just gorgeous weather day after day. On Saturday and next Tuesday we are to have some rain showers, then the daytime highs will be dropping into the single digits, but still....if there is no ice on the ground I can still go out walking, just in warmer clothes and coats. FANTASTIC!!! I am so happy! Thank you Lord for this great weather that allows me to be outdoors so much.
After my lunch I couldn't stand to remain inside this suite after such a great walk this morning, so I hoofed it over to the neighbourhood grocery store for a couple of items, again taking the longest routes there and back. How marvellous to be out twice today. I am quite happy that we are having company next Monday, so I can leave the housecleaning until the weekend when my husband is at work and spend the next couple of days walking about the city once again.
I decided my husband needed a couple of treats to come home to today. So, I found a couple of boxes of his favourite Twinings Peppermint and Creamy Vanilla herb tea, as he is running out of it and you never know when a flavour is going to stop being produced. I stopped in at the closest SLG store as well and picked him up a 4 pack of Guiness Stout so he can have a treat on his next day off. He rarely drinks beer any more in order to assist his cholesterol to continue on its downward spiral, but a man needs a special treat on occasion and needs to know his wife is thinking of him during such a stressful time.
I can't think of anywhere else I need to walk today, so will try to settle in and do some home projects, but they will be done with all the window curtains and blinds wide open so I can continue to enjoy the glorious sunshine.
Tomorrow is payday so I will have a reason for a walk to the banks tomorrow. What fun!! Friday I am going to go out shopping for a few small treats for 3 of the neighbour children with whom I have a bit of a "next door neighbour" relationship. They are cute little duffers, aged 6, 3 and 2, so polite and conversational. My husband and I truly enjoy them. They are all going out for Halloween this year so I don't need to buy them any candy, but there are lots of little "goodies" for kids of those ages: small toys and dress up items are their favourites. So looking forward to it. What fun!
Wow....the post pounder is in full swing at a large construction site a couple of blocks from here. The whole suite is vibrating...second day in a row. At least it doesn't seem to go on for more than a half hour or so. I will be glad when that project is done...it is a renovation and expansion of the downtown campus for the local university, along with a new branch of a Credit Union bank. Wish it wasn't going to increase the vehicle and pedestrian traffic in our area as much as it is going to when it is finished. It will also increase the walking and biking traffic on the lakefront paths. Some people in the city tried to thwart the project, but of course were unsuccessful. Like so many cities, Regina is starting to lose what few bits of parkland it has within the city limits in order to increase the tax base and allow for expansion. Inevitable of course, but very sad.
I was also sad to see today, on my morning walk, the FOR LEASE signs now prominently displayed in the windows of what used to be a cookie bakery, a Brazilian jiu jitsu school, a mixed martial arts school, a Korean grocery and gift shop and an eyewear outlet. I hate to see any local businesses closing. It was a bit of a shock to see how many have closed out just in the past few weeks. The economy here must not be improving! A couple of restaurants have also disappeared recently. I feel badly for small business owners who just can't make a go of it these days. Having been small business owners and knowing the difficulties, makes my husband and I feel even worse for those who cannot stay open during economically difficult times.
Time to put the dishwasher on and get a few little home chores accomplished! Hope your day is going as well as my own.
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Must Be a Reason For It, Right? hahaha
A month ago we scheduled a bank appointment to talk about what we are going to do in regard to our financial future with unemployment looming and no substantial leads as yet for more paid positions for my husband.
For some reason, my husband and I BOTH forgot about it and missed it. US? Forget a BANK appointment??? That just doesn't happen, particularly to me, but this time it did.
The investment counsellor was very polite and forgiving about it and we rescheduled it for the following week.........the week I became so very ill. So we cancelled it and rescheduled once again.
The day of our appointment we received a phone call very early in the morning to say that our counsellor had been called away for a family emergency, so we decided to reschedule for after our trip to the city.
Today was to be the day, finally, that the appointment was to happen. Early this morning we received a call from the bank to let us know our counsellor is off with severe 'flu', and so could we reschedule yet again? hahahaha
SO....here's hoping for our appointment NEXT week!
Not sure what has taken longer: getting my new glasses redone several times before being able to wear them, or getting this bank appointment over with. I think the bank appointment is winning the contest at the moment, hahaha.
For some reason, my husband and I BOTH forgot about it and missed it. US? Forget a BANK appointment??? That just doesn't happen, particularly to me, but this time it did.
The investment counsellor was very polite and forgiving about it and we rescheduled it for the following week.........the week I became so very ill. So we cancelled it and rescheduled once again.
The day of our appointment we received a phone call very early in the morning to say that our counsellor had been called away for a family emergency, so we decided to reschedule for after our trip to the city.
Today was to be the day, finally, that the appointment was to happen. Early this morning we received a call from the bank to let us know our counsellor is off with severe 'flu', and so could we reschedule yet again? hahahaha
SO....here's hoping for our appointment NEXT week!
Not sure what has taken longer: getting my new glasses redone several times before being able to wear them, or getting this bank appointment over with. I think the bank appointment is winning the contest at the moment, hahaha.
Monday, October 22, 2018
A Perfect Autumn Day!
It doesn't get any better than this folks! What a perfect day today has been.
My walking partner and I had a lovely walk around the lake early this morning. It was a bit chilly but there was NO WIND!! This happens so rarely in Regina, prairie town that it is. We saw lots of beautiful ducks on the lake, the remaining geese who have not flown south for the winter and a number of friendly folk with very cute dogs having their morning "walkees".
For lunch my husband and I enjoyed the left over Indian food from last night's delicious meal and then we went for a lovely drive up through the Qu'Appelle Valley. We went out to a former diocesan church camp property that is going to be listed for sale in the new year. The purpose for our trip was to check out all the access roads and the available services in the area surrounding the camp, so that the sales promotion write up will be able to highlight the many surprise finds that could appeal to potential buyers. O how I would love to have a couple of million dollars at my disposal to purchase the property and build a fabulous house overlooking Mission Lake that butts up to the edge of the property. If there is a truly beautiful spot on the prairies, for me, that lake district around the towns of Fort Qu'Appelle and Indian Head is it! O my, so lovely! I can imagine its beauty in the summer when the trees are leafed out. The water is clear and today there wasn't so much as a breeze to ripple the surface. The sun was shining but it wasn't overly warm outside, just the perfect conditions for a couple of hours of driving.
We discovered the tiny community of Lebret in the area and stopped in at the wee cafe there for a cola. There is a small grocery store as well, a couple of ancient looking churches, one up on the hillside that has access via a winding path up the steep hill for people able to climb that far up. The Roman Catholic church in the town centre, right at the end the two block long main street, has a tall spire that can be seen from miles away.
What a lovely drive we had. While I am grateful I don't actually have to live in the isolated little communities out that way, they are quite lovely to visit, even in the autumn when the brown hills are still interesting to look at, plus the lakes are always beautiful. We found the Baptist Church camp on Lake Katepwa, so we saw where many of my church friends will be spending their retreat time next weekend. It is a small camp, but so CUTE! Even at this time of year it is quite lovely sitting there on the lake front, definitely is worth giving it a gander.
We returned to the city at around 6pm, a bit late for my supper, plus my husband was ravenous after a small lunch, so we were a bit owly as we tried to decide if we should eat out or just go home for peanut butter sandwiches. My husband decided we should eat at Wild Sage downtown and we are glad we did that. I was too crabby to want to have to even put peanut butter between two slices of bread, so we ended up with the most delicious butternut squash soup, with which I had a small chicken caesar salad and my husband had an uber fresh ciabatta bread sandwich filled with turkey and avocado. It was quite a lovely meal and the restaurant, as is usual for Monday evenings even in hotels, was filled with quiet ambience. Our server was superb and so helpful.
I came home to a phone message from Dad letting me know he has all ready received approval for the same osteoporosis drug that is working so well for me. Apparently now it is possible to obtain it in Alberta at the request of a physician. It didn't used to be. So, I am thrilled for dad. He will pick up the prescription tomorrow and head off to his doctor's office to have the injection.
Yes, a good day. It was the kind of day that serves to remind me well, during what could be a most stressful time, that God is in his heaven and all is right with the world. Today's memories will be most helpful on the days ahead when I am not so certain of God's faithfulness....I am human, it IS going to happen! haha
My walking partner and I had a lovely walk around the lake early this morning. It was a bit chilly but there was NO WIND!! This happens so rarely in Regina, prairie town that it is. We saw lots of beautiful ducks on the lake, the remaining geese who have not flown south for the winter and a number of friendly folk with very cute dogs having their morning "walkees".
For lunch my husband and I enjoyed the left over Indian food from last night's delicious meal and then we went for a lovely drive up through the Qu'Appelle Valley. We went out to a former diocesan church camp property that is going to be listed for sale in the new year. The purpose for our trip was to check out all the access roads and the available services in the area surrounding the camp, so that the sales promotion write up will be able to highlight the many surprise finds that could appeal to potential buyers. O how I would love to have a couple of million dollars at my disposal to purchase the property and build a fabulous house overlooking Mission Lake that butts up to the edge of the property. If there is a truly beautiful spot on the prairies, for me, that lake district around the towns of Fort Qu'Appelle and Indian Head is it! O my, so lovely! I can imagine its beauty in the summer when the trees are leafed out. The water is clear and today there wasn't so much as a breeze to ripple the surface. The sun was shining but it wasn't overly warm outside, just the perfect conditions for a couple of hours of driving.
We discovered the tiny community of Lebret in the area and stopped in at the wee cafe there for a cola. There is a small grocery store as well, a couple of ancient looking churches, one up on the hillside that has access via a winding path up the steep hill for people able to climb that far up. The Roman Catholic church in the town centre, right at the end the two block long main street, has a tall spire that can be seen from miles away.
What a lovely drive we had. While I am grateful I don't actually have to live in the isolated little communities out that way, they are quite lovely to visit, even in the autumn when the brown hills are still interesting to look at, plus the lakes are always beautiful. We found the Baptist Church camp on Lake Katepwa, so we saw where many of my church friends will be spending their retreat time next weekend. It is a small camp, but so CUTE! Even at this time of year it is quite lovely sitting there on the lake front, definitely is worth giving it a gander.
We returned to the city at around 6pm, a bit late for my supper, plus my husband was ravenous after a small lunch, so we were a bit owly as we tried to decide if we should eat out or just go home for peanut butter sandwiches. My husband decided we should eat at Wild Sage downtown and we are glad we did that. I was too crabby to want to have to even put peanut butter between two slices of bread, so we ended up with the most delicious butternut squash soup, with which I had a small chicken caesar salad and my husband had an uber fresh ciabatta bread sandwich filled with turkey and avocado. It was quite a lovely meal and the restaurant, as is usual for Monday evenings even in hotels, was filled with quiet ambience. Our server was superb and so helpful.
I came home to a phone message from Dad letting me know he has all ready received approval for the same osteoporosis drug that is working so well for me. Apparently now it is possible to obtain it in Alberta at the request of a physician. It didn't used to be. So, I am thrilled for dad. He will pick up the prescription tomorrow and head off to his doctor's office to have the injection.
Yes, a good day. It was the kind of day that serves to remind me well, during what could be a most stressful time, that God is in his heaven and all is right with the world. Today's memories will be most helpful on the days ahead when I am not so certain of God's faithfulness....I am human, it IS going to happen! haha
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Another Excellent Day!
Beautiful warm sunny weather today....wow, it was almost like spring outside. By the time I walked home from church just after noon, it was warm enough that I had to unzip my coat to keep from overheating. What a glorious fall day!
Our choir certainly performed the anthem this morning much better than we rehearsed it on Thursday evening! The congregation actually clapped for us! We sang "Gather at the River to Pray" and it is peppy and fun to sing and to listen to. The speaker's sermon was on the first two chapters of Song of Songs and it was an honest appraisal of the writings and what they are about and why they are included in the canon of Scripture. I enjoyed it, very realistic and a great warning against over spiritualising what is actually mildly erotic poetry, even though God is not embarrassed by his strong love for us as his creation. The fabulous ginger cookie I ate during the coffee hour certainly gave me some vim and vigor for the walk home afterward, as church was rather long this morning and I needed some carb intake to make it home to make lunch.
This afternoon was spent arranging a few visits for next week. I am going to try my hand at making a vegan spaghetti dish for one couple but I am going to let them bring their own cheese substitute. Since I am just learning about true vegan fare and am unfamiliar with dairy substitutes I don't want to buy something none of us enjoy. The fellow is our preacher from this morning and his wife is going to bring her guitar to dinner so that she can play and sing a praise song she wrote and sang at this morning's service. It is based on Psalm 62 and 63 and I want to hear it again. Since my husband had to do a couple of out of town services of his own today, he missed out on the song and I know he too will enjoy it.
Tomorrow morning my dear walking buddy is coming over so we can take advantage of the ongoing nice weather and take another turn around the lake. Most of the geese have headed south now, so we should be able to maintain clean soles on our shoes this time around. Hopefully there are still some turtles or fish or something remaining in view to make the walk especially interesting. Our last walk was on a rather chilly morning but there were still ducks diving into the lake for food and it was fun watching them.
Then in the afternoon my husband and I are going to drive out to Fort Qu'Appelle to check out an old camp property the diocese is in the process of trying to sell. Due to unnoticed interference by my husband's cell phone spell checker made when he was setting up meetings for this coming week, he has to go into work on his Tuesday afternoon off to meet with the realtor, when he thought he had scheduled the meeting for Thursday. hahaha So, to make up for working both his afternoons off this week, he will probably take all of Thursday off instead. Next week he loses his Tuesday off to go deal with a serious problem in one of the parishes far away, so is looking at his schedule to figure out what other day to take. Now that he is only going to be employed for such a limited time period, he has to make sure he gets all his days off before he is done. I think he has reached a point where he is no longer able to give more than is required to the job.
Tonight we SKYPE'd with our son in NYC. He is looking very fit and happy since his trip to France and Italy. In the next couple of days he and my husband will arrange his flight to visit us in December. Hopefully it will be after my husband is done work, so that we can all just relax and enjoy the time together for a change. I doubt it will actually be at Christmas, the way our son's work days are being set up for the rest of this year, but we don't care how early he arrives, it will just be great to see him.
I am feeling less tired today. In fact I had tons of energy after two very sound nights of sleep in a row. The closer we get to having no income, the more peaceful I am becoming. I truly believe the proper job will appear at the right time for my husband. God has been so faithful in his provision in times past that it is becoming easier to trust and wait on him now that we are facing uncertainty once again.
This evening we went out for dinner with one of my husband's colleagues. We went to the Tamarind Indian restaurant and it was particularly good tonight. The vindaloo was exactly as hot as I wanted it the last time we were there and ended up with barely any warmth, let alone the hotter pepper spice I was hoping for. Tonight everything was perfect. The lentils and rice were so tasty, the Chicken Village was filled with chunks of white meat and veggies in the creamiest sauce I have had yet in an Indian restaurant. The bread in the naan basket was fresh and not oily or undercooked. Our friend also enjoyed it very much. It was a treat to go into a part of the city we rarely have reason to be in and the food was delicious.
Yes, it has been quite a wonderful day and I am grateful as always for all the blessings of the day. Looking at the week ahead I think it will go well. Friday evening we are going to the Investor's Group sponsored comedy night with some good friends. That will be a hoot!! Of course there is Old Testament discussion group coming up on Tuesday night.
Thankful for life as it is working out in this present time.......
Our choir certainly performed the anthem this morning much better than we rehearsed it on Thursday evening! The congregation actually clapped for us! We sang "Gather at the River to Pray" and it is peppy and fun to sing and to listen to. The speaker's sermon was on the first two chapters of Song of Songs and it was an honest appraisal of the writings and what they are about and why they are included in the canon of Scripture. I enjoyed it, very realistic and a great warning against over spiritualising what is actually mildly erotic poetry, even though God is not embarrassed by his strong love for us as his creation. The fabulous ginger cookie I ate during the coffee hour certainly gave me some vim and vigor for the walk home afterward, as church was rather long this morning and I needed some carb intake to make it home to make lunch.
This afternoon was spent arranging a few visits for next week. I am going to try my hand at making a vegan spaghetti dish for one couple but I am going to let them bring their own cheese substitute. Since I am just learning about true vegan fare and am unfamiliar with dairy substitutes I don't want to buy something none of us enjoy. The fellow is our preacher from this morning and his wife is going to bring her guitar to dinner so that she can play and sing a praise song she wrote and sang at this morning's service. It is based on Psalm 62 and 63 and I want to hear it again. Since my husband had to do a couple of out of town services of his own today, he missed out on the song and I know he too will enjoy it.
Tomorrow morning my dear walking buddy is coming over so we can take advantage of the ongoing nice weather and take another turn around the lake. Most of the geese have headed south now, so we should be able to maintain clean soles on our shoes this time around. Hopefully there are still some turtles or fish or something remaining in view to make the walk especially interesting. Our last walk was on a rather chilly morning but there were still ducks diving into the lake for food and it was fun watching them.
Then in the afternoon my husband and I are going to drive out to Fort Qu'Appelle to check out an old camp property the diocese is in the process of trying to sell. Due to unnoticed interference by my husband's cell phone spell checker made when he was setting up meetings for this coming week, he has to go into work on his Tuesday afternoon off to meet with the realtor, when he thought he had scheduled the meeting for Thursday. hahaha So, to make up for working both his afternoons off this week, he will probably take all of Thursday off instead. Next week he loses his Tuesday off to go deal with a serious problem in one of the parishes far away, so is looking at his schedule to figure out what other day to take. Now that he is only going to be employed for such a limited time period, he has to make sure he gets all his days off before he is done. I think he has reached a point where he is no longer able to give more than is required to the job.
Tonight we SKYPE'd with our son in NYC. He is looking very fit and happy since his trip to France and Italy. In the next couple of days he and my husband will arrange his flight to visit us in December. Hopefully it will be after my husband is done work, so that we can all just relax and enjoy the time together for a change. I doubt it will actually be at Christmas, the way our son's work days are being set up for the rest of this year, but we don't care how early he arrives, it will just be great to see him.
I am feeling less tired today. In fact I had tons of energy after two very sound nights of sleep in a row. The closer we get to having no income, the more peaceful I am becoming. I truly believe the proper job will appear at the right time for my husband. God has been so faithful in his provision in times past that it is becoming easier to trust and wait on him now that we are facing uncertainty once again.
This evening we went out for dinner with one of my husband's colleagues. We went to the Tamarind Indian restaurant and it was particularly good tonight. The vindaloo was exactly as hot as I wanted it the last time we were there and ended up with barely any warmth, let alone the hotter pepper spice I was hoping for. Tonight everything was perfect. The lentils and rice were so tasty, the Chicken Village was filled with chunks of white meat and veggies in the creamiest sauce I have had yet in an Indian restaurant. The bread in the naan basket was fresh and not oily or undercooked. Our friend also enjoyed it very much. It was a treat to go into a part of the city we rarely have reason to be in and the food was delicious.
Yes, it has been quite a wonderful day and I am grateful as always for all the blessings of the day. Looking at the week ahead I think it will go well. Friday evening we are going to the Investor's Group sponsored comedy night with some good friends. That will be a hoot!! Of course there is Old Testament discussion group coming up on Tuesday night.
Thankful for life as it is working out in this present time.......
Saturday, October 20, 2018
Missing Out On the Discussion
Today is the Regina meeting for discussion among all the Anglican congregations about the upcoming possible changes to the Anglican marriage canon. It is about the next step in possibly approving changes to include same sex marriages and the final decision to make the changes or not will happen next July at the General Synod. It passed first reading by one vote at the General Synod in 2016, so the Anglican Church of Canada will have had 3 years to discuss things sensibly since that vote occurred.
I assumed my husband and I would be at the meeting today, but the Bishop, wisely I think, felt that if he and my husband and their wives were present, then perhaps the members of the church at large would not feel free to openly discuss their feelings and ideas. My husband and the bishop are known to both adopt a slightly more conservative stance on the wording of any changes to the marriage canon and they do not want the more liberal believers to feel constrained, nor do they want the more conservative members to assume they will receive 100% support for the way they express themselves at the meeting.
So, while I have been alternately resting and cleaning today, I have been praying that cool heads and warm hearts would prevail throughout the discussion and that all points of view will have a chance to be heard and defended. I particularly hope the aboriginal members of the church will get a proper chance to talk about their particular take on same sex relationships as it tends to be a little different than the non-aboriginal members of the group and it seems quite sensible to me. (two spirit people).
While I am disappointed to miss the discussion, on the other hand, perhaps I don't need the aggravation if people start to lose their tempers or fall apart emotionally because of others who do not share their particular beliefs. It has been known to happen during discussions about somewhat contentious issues, even among Christians.
I guess that has been my main prayer today...that all would respect each other, that all would be prepared to defend their point of view from a theologically sound standpoint and that in future people would be able to make rational, Spirit led decisions as to how to handle any changes or lack thereof to the marriage canon.
I assumed my husband and I would be at the meeting today, but the Bishop, wisely I think, felt that if he and my husband and their wives were present, then perhaps the members of the church at large would not feel free to openly discuss their feelings and ideas. My husband and the bishop are known to both adopt a slightly more conservative stance on the wording of any changes to the marriage canon and they do not want the more liberal believers to feel constrained, nor do they want the more conservative members to assume they will receive 100% support for the way they express themselves at the meeting.
So, while I have been alternately resting and cleaning today, I have been praying that cool heads and warm hearts would prevail throughout the discussion and that all points of view will have a chance to be heard and defended. I particularly hope the aboriginal members of the church will get a proper chance to talk about their particular take on same sex relationships as it tends to be a little different than the non-aboriginal members of the group and it seems quite sensible to me. (two spirit people).
While I am disappointed to miss the discussion, on the other hand, perhaps I don't need the aggravation if people start to lose their tempers or fall apart emotionally because of others who do not share their particular beliefs. It has been known to happen during discussions about somewhat contentious issues, even among Christians.
I guess that has been my main prayer today...that all would respect each other, that all would be prepared to defend their point of view from a theologically sound standpoint and that in future people would be able to make rational, Spirit led decisions as to how to handle any changes or lack thereof to the marriage canon.
Little Details So Often Decide the Day's Events
I woke up this morning totally exhausted after the long bout of influenza or food poisoning or whatever it was, followed immediately by several nearly completely inert days in Calgary while visiting my parents. This past week was incredibly busy in comparison, not any busier than most regular weeks any more, but after having nearly two weeks of inactivity the past week wore me out.
I know I need, desperately, to clean this suite, but also knew by the time breakfast was over that there was no way I was going to be up to doing it. I decided to instead do some binge watching of tv programmes I recorded while we were away.
That plan lasted until just after I did the breakfast dishes. The carpet in the kitchen beside the back door was absolutely filthy with small pebbles and dead grass that came in on our shoes during the days since we got home from the city. Out came the vaccum cleaner to get rid of the mess, but when I switched it on and tried to pick up the dirt, I realized it wasn't doing its job. As I suspected, the hepa filther was completely clogged with dust and other particles of yuck!
My husband managed to twist the entire unit apart for me, being the strong individual that he is, so I was able to disengage the filter parts and start cleaning them. He took the soft tissue filter outside to clean it with a soft brush while I washed and dried the plastic parts of the unit. In the process, we managed to blow a thin layer of the black dust from the filter all over every surface in the kitchen. That pretty much decided my housework for the day.....well, actually for the afternoon.
By the time I reconnected all the filter parts, then sat down and responded to some emails, blogged a bit, showered and dressed, it was time for lunch. hohoho
After lunch I did take two hours and give the wee kitchen a darned good cleaning. Washing down the cupboard fronts and taking all the pots and pans, teapots and cutting boards out of the island cupboard for a good cleaning up was a good job well done. It felt wonderful to get it finished and I wish I had the energy to finish the downstairs this afternoon, but I have to be honest and admit I just can't manage it today.
My heart murmur is acting up since I had that bout of illness and I am wondering if I need to go in to the doctor for a tracing and see if she wants me to have a stress test.....will have to think about that......I am overdue for the ECG, that is for sure...sigh.... Well, next week I have a 3 month cholesterol test, so no doubt she will be calling me in for results and I can request the heart tests then.
I think tomorrow will be a good test for my murmur and exhaustion because the weather is nice enough that I will be able to walk to church again. Since it is a good 30 minute or more walk, even at a decent pace, I will be able to check myself and see how tired it makes me. If it makes me tired I will know it is time to get my heart tested again. I have done well with it for a long time, so can't complain if some issues have arisen.
I was so tired at choir practise on Thursday night that I did a bad job. My eyes and brain didn't want to work together on our new music and I feel badly for the gal who was sitting beside me. Hopefully when we go over the anthem again tomorrow morning before church I will do better.
Personally I think the answer to my exhaustion issue is MORE EXERCISE once again. When I don't get daily proper exercise I go downhill in a hurry. So, tomorrow's walk will be my test. If walking to church seems like too much then I know it is time to TOTALLY rest until I get my heart tracing done. If it perks me up then I will know I have simply been too inactive for too long.
Wow, at this age a person can certainly fall apart in a heck of a hurry if she sits around too much for too long!!
I know I need, desperately, to clean this suite, but also knew by the time breakfast was over that there was no way I was going to be up to doing it. I decided to instead do some binge watching of tv programmes I recorded while we were away.
That plan lasted until just after I did the breakfast dishes. The carpet in the kitchen beside the back door was absolutely filthy with small pebbles and dead grass that came in on our shoes during the days since we got home from the city. Out came the vaccum cleaner to get rid of the mess, but when I switched it on and tried to pick up the dirt, I realized it wasn't doing its job. As I suspected, the hepa filther was completely clogged with dust and other particles of yuck!
My husband managed to twist the entire unit apart for me, being the strong individual that he is, so I was able to disengage the filter parts and start cleaning them. He took the soft tissue filter outside to clean it with a soft brush while I washed and dried the plastic parts of the unit. In the process, we managed to blow a thin layer of the black dust from the filter all over every surface in the kitchen. That pretty much decided my housework for the day.....well, actually for the afternoon.
By the time I reconnected all the filter parts, then sat down and responded to some emails, blogged a bit, showered and dressed, it was time for lunch. hohoho
After lunch I did take two hours and give the wee kitchen a darned good cleaning. Washing down the cupboard fronts and taking all the pots and pans, teapots and cutting boards out of the island cupboard for a good cleaning up was a good job well done. It felt wonderful to get it finished and I wish I had the energy to finish the downstairs this afternoon, but I have to be honest and admit I just can't manage it today.
My heart murmur is acting up since I had that bout of illness and I am wondering if I need to go in to the doctor for a tracing and see if she wants me to have a stress test.....will have to think about that......I am overdue for the ECG, that is for sure...sigh.... Well, next week I have a 3 month cholesterol test, so no doubt she will be calling me in for results and I can request the heart tests then.
I think tomorrow will be a good test for my murmur and exhaustion because the weather is nice enough that I will be able to walk to church again. Since it is a good 30 minute or more walk, even at a decent pace, I will be able to check myself and see how tired it makes me. If it makes me tired I will know it is time to get my heart tested again. I have done well with it for a long time, so can't complain if some issues have arisen.
I was so tired at choir practise on Thursday night that I did a bad job. My eyes and brain didn't want to work together on our new music and I feel badly for the gal who was sitting beside me. Hopefully when we go over the anthem again tomorrow morning before church I will do better.
Personally I think the answer to my exhaustion issue is MORE EXERCISE once again. When I don't get daily proper exercise I go downhill in a hurry. So, tomorrow's walk will be my test. If walking to church seems like too much then I know it is time to TOTALLY rest until I get my heart tracing done. If it perks me up then I will know I have simply been too inactive for too long.
Wow, at this age a person can certainly fall apart in a heck of a hurry if she sits around too much for too long!!
Hilarious Editorial on a Public Art Project in my Home City!
I have seen said public art project and, while I am a great supporter of public abstract art installations, this one really is as terrible as described. hahaha Enjoy the read below:
https://calgarysun.com/news/local-news/bell-calgarys-bowfort-towers-how-city-hall-finally-stopped-spending-on-a-stupid-project
https://calgarysun.com/news/local-news/bell-calgarys-bowfort-towers-how-city-hall-finally-stopped-spending-on-a-stupid-project
Friday, October 19, 2018
Mobility Is Such A Gift!
I spent a lot of the day grocery shopping and running other errands. In the course of my travels I happened to notice a fair number of senior citizens using walkers to navigate, vans and SUV's with wheel chairs folded up in the back storage space and people of various ages walking slowly along with assistance from wooden and metal canes.
Today it struck me how blessed people with full mobility, such as myself, actually are. Despite a bit of a limp due to the number of broken leg bones and the constant ache of stiff muscles attempting to settle happily around all the metal hardware holding those bones together, I am fully mobile. Yes, I cannot walk as quickly as I once could, but apart from being forced to use a cane when walking on ice and snow in the winter, I am not hampered much at this point in my life. I am still walking at what could be considered a normal pace and can hurry up with the best of them when I have to, cane and all.
Watching a very elderly woman attempting to maneuver her way across four lanes of busy city traffic before the lights changed was difficult for me. She only made it past the first 2 lanes before the walk light began counting down from 25 to 0, ensuring she wouldn't quite make it before the drivers who were stopped for the red light would become impatient with her once their light turned green and finding she was still out in front of them, moving at a snail's pace and delaying their moving forward. My heart was in my mouth as I waited to see if any of the oncoming drivers were going to hassle her, or worse, nearly drive over her in their hurry to get going. Fortunately she made it without anyone trying to run her down, either on purpose to make a point or inadvertently because of not paying attention. Whew!!
I sat in my car in a parking lot long enough to observe an older man struggling to haul a wheel chair out of his car and set it up for his wife's use, then pushing, pulling and dragging her out of the vehicle and into the chair so they could run their errands. He looked exhausted from the effort and she was obviously struggling to make it from the car seat to the wheelchair without falling out of his grip and landing on the pavement. What an ordeal they both must experience any and every time they leave the house together.
As I get older I am finding myself wondering how best to manage should I have another fall one of these days and find that I am in a place of severely lowered mobility. I am trying to figure out what will be worse....loss of physical mobility or loss of vision from this blasted macular degeneration. The so called "aging process" truly is a process of mental acceptance of all the changes in body and mind that a person cannot avoid.
A very elderly friend of my family is currently in palliative care. She has suffered severe heart related breathing problems in recent weeks, as well as a blood infection requiring ongoing transfusions. A couple of days ago she made the decision to stop the transfusion treatments and has had her oxygen tanks shut off. She no longer wants to live, knowing that prolonging her life by medication and artificial means will simply prolong her suffering. I admire her courage. She knows where she is going after death and has no fear of the process of dying. I hope that when I reach a point where there is no longer anything positive to live for, no hope of improvement in my medical conditions, the complete loss of mobility and vision and Lord knows what else, that I too will have the courage to stop my medications and let nature take its course.
In the meantime I thank God daily that I can still get around on my own, that I can still see sufficiently well to drive and enjoy visual "arts" of all kinds, that I can hear all right and that my mind is more or less sound.
Thank you Lord for where I am at these days and I pray for mercy and grace as old age continues to creep up and rob me of abilities and activities that I currently take for granted. I pray for discernment from You to know when it is time for me leave this earth, should I live long enough to fail physically and mentally due to old age, and to then take the necessary steps to end any suffering that is making life pointless.
For now I revel in the ability to be mobile and to be able to enjoy my life every day.
Today it struck me how blessed people with full mobility, such as myself, actually are. Despite a bit of a limp due to the number of broken leg bones and the constant ache of stiff muscles attempting to settle happily around all the metal hardware holding those bones together, I am fully mobile. Yes, I cannot walk as quickly as I once could, but apart from being forced to use a cane when walking on ice and snow in the winter, I am not hampered much at this point in my life. I am still walking at what could be considered a normal pace and can hurry up with the best of them when I have to, cane and all.
Watching a very elderly woman attempting to maneuver her way across four lanes of busy city traffic before the lights changed was difficult for me. She only made it past the first 2 lanes before the walk light began counting down from 25 to 0, ensuring she wouldn't quite make it before the drivers who were stopped for the red light would become impatient with her once their light turned green and finding she was still out in front of them, moving at a snail's pace and delaying their moving forward. My heart was in my mouth as I waited to see if any of the oncoming drivers were going to hassle her, or worse, nearly drive over her in their hurry to get going. Fortunately she made it without anyone trying to run her down, either on purpose to make a point or inadvertently because of not paying attention. Whew!!
I sat in my car in a parking lot long enough to observe an older man struggling to haul a wheel chair out of his car and set it up for his wife's use, then pushing, pulling and dragging her out of the vehicle and into the chair so they could run their errands. He looked exhausted from the effort and she was obviously struggling to make it from the car seat to the wheelchair without falling out of his grip and landing on the pavement. What an ordeal they both must experience any and every time they leave the house together.
As I get older I am finding myself wondering how best to manage should I have another fall one of these days and find that I am in a place of severely lowered mobility. I am trying to figure out what will be worse....loss of physical mobility or loss of vision from this blasted macular degeneration. The so called "aging process" truly is a process of mental acceptance of all the changes in body and mind that a person cannot avoid.
A very elderly friend of my family is currently in palliative care. She has suffered severe heart related breathing problems in recent weeks, as well as a blood infection requiring ongoing transfusions. A couple of days ago she made the decision to stop the transfusion treatments and has had her oxygen tanks shut off. She no longer wants to live, knowing that prolonging her life by medication and artificial means will simply prolong her suffering. I admire her courage. She knows where she is going after death and has no fear of the process of dying. I hope that when I reach a point where there is no longer anything positive to live for, no hope of improvement in my medical conditions, the complete loss of mobility and vision and Lord knows what else, that I too will have the courage to stop my medications and let nature take its course.
In the meantime I thank God daily that I can still get around on my own, that I can still see sufficiently well to drive and enjoy visual "arts" of all kinds, that I can hear all right and that my mind is more or less sound.
Thank you Lord for where I am at these days and I pray for mercy and grace as old age continues to creep up and rob me of abilities and activities that I currently take for granted. I pray for discernment from You to know when it is time for me leave this earth, should I live long enough to fail physically and mentally due to old age, and to then take the necessary steps to end any suffering that is making life pointless.
For now I revel in the ability to be mobile and to be able to enjoy my life every day.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Just Day Dreaming.....sigh.....
Ever since our trip to New York City in June, I have discovered the memories of our trip there are my new "happy place" to escape to if I am tired or stressed or not feeling well.
Staying in the Hassidic community was such a unique experience for us, seeing our son doing so well and so happy again was a huge relief, the restaurants were insanely fabulous, the sights and sounds a wonderful treat....what super memories to have of a place I never in my life had any desire to visit!
"Nursing" my husband through to the end of his current job is going to occupy a lot of my time over the next couple of months. He wasn't well during the night last night so is going in very late to work today and I know it is most likely stress. I am praying he will find a few joys along the way to the end that will keep him more upbeat. He has developed the mysterious body aches and pains that often signal the onset of a bad episode of CFS, so we are praying he can avoid that. His head and heart are all ready done with his position, despite his best attempts to remain engaged, so we just pray he can convince his body to hold out for a few weeks. I think a person can only ignore/be forced out of their true calling for short periods of time before mind, spirit and body demand a release from the areas where gifting is not as strong. This Sunday my husband has two church services where he can preach and preside and he is definitely looking forward to those. God has been faithful to provide bits of encouragement here and there since the summer and we are both grateful for that. Those small glimmers of hope and joy are what have kept my husband going this fall.
This morning I am on my way to shop for some winter slacks for my mom. She just can't get around to all the stores in Calgary that stock her styles and sizes. I am looking forward to the shopping. It is always fun when I find things I know she is going to like.
Yup, once I get my husband feeling better and on his way to the office I will be able to get out and enjoy the sunshine and warmer temperatures! YAY!
Until then I am going to look at photos from our NYC trip and dream of going back some day.............
Staying in the Hassidic community was such a unique experience for us, seeing our son doing so well and so happy again was a huge relief, the restaurants were insanely fabulous, the sights and sounds a wonderful treat....what super memories to have of a place I never in my life had any desire to visit!
"Nursing" my husband through to the end of his current job is going to occupy a lot of my time over the next couple of months. He wasn't well during the night last night so is going in very late to work today and I know it is most likely stress. I am praying he will find a few joys along the way to the end that will keep him more upbeat. He has developed the mysterious body aches and pains that often signal the onset of a bad episode of CFS, so we are praying he can avoid that. His head and heart are all ready done with his position, despite his best attempts to remain engaged, so we just pray he can convince his body to hold out for a few weeks. I think a person can only ignore/be forced out of their true calling for short periods of time before mind, spirit and body demand a release from the areas where gifting is not as strong. This Sunday my husband has two church services where he can preach and preside and he is definitely looking forward to those. God has been faithful to provide bits of encouragement here and there since the summer and we are both grateful for that. Those small glimmers of hope and joy are what have kept my husband going this fall.
This morning I am on my way to shop for some winter slacks for my mom. She just can't get around to all the stores in Calgary that stock her styles and sizes. I am looking forward to the shopping. It is always fun when I find things I know she is going to like.
Yup, once I get my husband feeling better and on his way to the office I will be able to get out and enjoy the sunshine and warmer temperatures! YAY!
Until then I am going to look at photos from our NYC trip and dream of going back some day.............
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
O Dad, Poor Dad.....
While we were in Calgary last week we took dad for a back x-ray. He has been experiencing spinal fracture pain again after 5 years without any issues. Today he got the results and yes, there is yet another fracture.
When he told me, I had instant flashbacks to the agony he went through in rehab hospital 5 years ago, the extreme use of morphine to deaden the pain and the 3 months of withdrawal from the drug 18 months ago. Now what??? Was he going to have to go through all that again??
His doctor is new and wonderful as far as I am concerned. He is starting dad immediately on a regimen of 6 doses of the drug I am taking for my own osteoporosis that is working so well. He is also making an appointment for as soon as possible with a specialist who will cauterize the nerve endings in dad's lower back so that he never has to experience this extreme fracture pain again. I am praying that goes well and is as effective as it is touted to be. At the age of nearly 92, having the pain to alert him to a new spinal fracture is just meaningless suffering. If there are more fractures despite having the new drug injections, there is nothing that can be done to heal them at this point anyway, so pain free is the only way to go in my opinion.
Praying dad can soon get relief. It is either cauterization or a return to the hydromorph that he successfully withdrew from after 3 agonizing months only 18 months ago. The hydromorph left him feeling so miserable every single day that he has no desire to return to it.
I pray that both he and mom can have a better quality of life for awhile if this treatment is successful! Getting old is nothing more than an ongoing torture test in my opinion......
When he told me, I had instant flashbacks to the agony he went through in rehab hospital 5 years ago, the extreme use of morphine to deaden the pain and the 3 months of withdrawal from the drug 18 months ago. Now what??? Was he going to have to go through all that again??
His doctor is new and wonderful as far as I am concerned. He is starting dad immediately on a regimen of 6 doses of the drug I am taking for my own osteoporosis that is working so well. He is also making an appointment for as soon as possible with a specialist who will cauterize the nerve endings in dad's lower back so that he never has to experience this extreme fracture pain again. I am praying that goes well and is as effective as it is touted to be. At the age of nearly 92, having the pain to alert him to a new spinal fracture is just meaningless suffering. If there are more fractures despite having the new drug injections, there is nothing that can be done to heal them at this point anyway, so pain free is the only way to go in my opinion.
Praying dad can soon get relief. It is either cauterization or a return to the hydromorph that he successfully withdrew from after 3 agonizing months only 18 months ago. The hydromorph left him feeling so miserable every single day that he has no desire to return to it.
I pray that both he and mom can have a better quality of life for awhile if this treatment is successful! Getting old is nothing more than an ongoing torture test in my opinion......
How Good and How Pleasant It Is To Dwell Together in Unity! (Thank you Psalm 133!)
It seems we have been busy ever since we returned home, and mostly in good ways!
My husband got a day and a half to rest prior to returning to work today...a very long day of over 12 hours, but it was productive. Today he was given his official date for leaving his present position. It will be December 14, but he will be paid for the full month, the last 2 weeks being all the days off he is still owed for this year. I am grateful beyond measure for that on any number of levels. So, after thinking originally that he could remain employed at this position until the end of next March if necessary, the budget cuts have moved the date back by well over 3 months. Trusting the Lord once again for the future has become very real and very serious as of today! So thankful we have walked this path before and know we can trust God to find more work for my husband at just the right time and in just the right place. While we are not blase about this situation, we have had sufficient experience in times past of God's assistance and provision that worrying is only an occasional occurence.
I had a marvellous visit with Dee Dee yesterday. We went out for breakfast and she told me all the good news she has had from the doctors since her recent cancer surgery. She has a meeting this coming Monday with her oncologist and a course of radiation will be set out for her. All the final test results on the lump, the surrounding tissue and the lymph glands will be in by then, but no problem surprises are likely, according to her doctor. Weeeeelllll, I continue to pray that will be true!
Last night's Old Testament discussion group was interesting. We are interspersing large chunks of the Proverbs in between I and II Kings and I and II Chronicles. I find the Proverbs a bit overwhelming as there is just SO much contained in each chapter and verse. The differing perspectives on the same stories, between Kings and Chronicles is quite amazing: Kings present all the negative aspects of situations and people, Chronicles present the more positive side of those same situations and people. Between the two of them we certainly get a well rounded perspective of the events of those times.
This morning I had another long and appreciated visit, this time with one of the deaconesses from church. My husband and I have agreed to help out at a couple of special dinners happening over the next few weeks, even though he is very tied up on Sundays at other churches in other towns. She also asked me if I would accompany her on some of her deaconal visits as she finds it difficult to go on her own. Since visiting almost anyone at any time is one of my "gifts", hahaha, I was happy to say yes!
I was able to have a bit of a walk this afternoon. The high temperature today was +21C and the breeze was almost as warm and welcoming as it is in the spring. Not sure how long this wonderful warm weather system is going to last, but I plan to enjoy every single day of it. Tomorrow I will get out and do some banking downtown. That will give me a good reason for an enjoyable long walk. Every day that is warm and dry enough outside to walk about is a wonderful blessing!
This evening I attended book club and we began our discussion of Brendan Manning's "Ragamuffin Gospel". I am reserving comment until I get farther into the book than the first chapter that we discussed this evening, but I think I will enjoy it whether or not I agree with all his ideas. It is fairly light reading theologically and I would have preferred reading a book by N.T. Wright that was also suggested for this term's reading, but at least we are not reading some sort of sappy novel! YES!!
My husband had a good meeting this evening and is presently relaxing watching an older movie based on the Lemony Snicket books. I tried so hard a few years ago to read and enjoy that children's series, but found it so incredibly depressing that I gave it up after the 6th or 7th book. The trials of the young characters in those novels seemed remarkably dire and apparently never ending. I cannot imagine any child not harbouring a secret bent toward evil enjoying those stories!!
Must go and make my bed up. I washed all my bedding, quilts, mattress covers etc. because I didn't want to have all those linens up around my face after being so ill before we went to Calgary.
Here's to another Indian Summer sort of day tomorrow!
My husband got a day and a half to rest prior to returning to work today...a very long day of over 12 hours, but it was productive. Today he was given his official date for leaving his present position. It will be December 14, but he will be paid for the full month, the last 2 weeks being all the days off he is still owed for this year. I am grateful beyond measure for that on any number of levels. So, after thinking originally that he could remain employed at this position until the end of next March if necessary, the budget cuts have moved the date back by well over 3 months. Trusting the Lord once again for the future has become very real and very serious as of today! So thankful we have walked this path before and know we can trust God to find more work for my husband at just the right time and in just the right place. While we are not blase about this situation, we have had sufficient experience in times past of God's assistance and provision that worrying is only an occasional occurence.
I had a marvellous visit with Dee Dee yesterday. We went out for breakfast and she told me all the good news she has had from the doctors since her recent cancer surgery. She has a meeting this coming Monday with her oncologist and a course of radiation will be set out for her. All the final test results on the lump, the surrounding tissue and the lymph glands will be in by then, but no problem surprises are likely, according to her doctor. Weeeeelllll, I continue to pray that will be true!
Last night's Old Testament discussion group was interesting. We are interspersing large chunks of the Proverbs in between I and II Kings and I and II Chronicles. I find the Proverbs a bit overwhelming as there is just SO much contained in each chapter and verse. The differing perspectives on the same stories, between Kings and Chronicles is quite amazing: Kings present all the negative aspects of situations and people, Chronicles present the more positive side of those same situations and people. Between the two of them we certainly get a well rounded perspective of the events of those times.
This morning I had another long and appreciated visit, this time with one of the deaconesses from church. My husband and I have agreed to help out at a couple of special dinners happening over the next few weeks, even though he is very tied up on Sundays at other churches in other towns. She also asked me if I would accompany her on some of her deaconal visits as she finds it difficult to go on her own. Since visiting almost anyone at any time is one of my "gifts", hahaha, I was happy to say yes!
I was able to have a bit of a walk this afternoon. The high temperature today was +21C and the breeze was almost as warm and welcoming as it is in the spring. Not sure how long this wonderful warm weather system is going to last, but I plan to enjoy every single day of it. Tomorrow I will get out and do some banking downtown. That will give me a good reason for an enjoyable long walk. Every day that is warm and dry enough outside to walk about is a wonderful blessing!
This evening I attended book club and we began our discussion of Brendan Manning's "Ragamuffin Gospel". I am reserving comment until I get farther into the book than the first chapter that we discussed this evening, but I think I will enjoy it whether or not I agree with all his ideas. It is fairly light reading theologically and I would have preferred reading a book by N.T. Wright that was also suggested for this term's reading, but at least we are not reading some sort of sappy novel! YES!!
My husband had a good meeting this evening and is presently relaxing watching an older movie based on the Lemony Snicket books. I tried so hard a few years ago to read and enjoy that children's series, but found it so incredibly depressing that I gave it up after the 6th or 7th book. The trials of the young characters in those novels seemed remarkably dire and apparently never ending. I cannot imagine any child not harbouring a secret bent toward evil enjoying those stories!!
Must go and make my bed up. I washed all my bedding, quilts, mattress covers etc. because I didn't want to have all those linens up around my face after being so ill before we went to Calgary.
Here's to another Indian Summer sort of day tomorrow!
Monday, October 15, 2018
The Good Old Days, hahahahahaha!!!
My cousin emailed me an old photo from the summer I was three years old. Hilarious! My parents look so young, I don't even remember them looking like that! I got quite a kick out of seeing my old kiddie wading pool, the silver painted tractor tire my paternal grandfather hauled into our little back yard and filled with sand that made many a "tasty" mud pie and the glimpse of what was a huge hedge of caragana my father spent many hours trimming summer after summer. Our house was an ancient two story, pre-WW2 home and the hedge came up to just below the second storey. How well I remember the many times Dad toppled off the ladder in his attempts to keep the hedge from growing wild and crazy! I had a lot of fun as a kid in that teensy back yard that, to me, was a magical playland!
So, here's your daily chuckle, free of charge:
So, here's your daily chuckle, free of charge:
Nice to Feel Well Again, Nice to Be Back Home Too!
This past 10 days or so has been a wonderful break from our daily lives and stresses, at least it was once I got feeling better at last! When even simple things like blogging and writing emails are stressful then it is past time for a break away!!
Thanksgiving weekend was non-existent for us as far as celebrating. I was still too ill to attend the dinner at our friends' home and my husband was too exhausted to even wake up for most of Thanksgivng Sunday. We didn't even get to church!
As I began to feel better, we decided the best thing to do would be to get out of here for a few days. It is difficult to think past the immediate moment after being stuck indoors for so long feeling gross. My husband decided to take a few days of owed study leave and attend a conference in Calgary this past weekend and I thought it would be a great time to make a last visit to see my parents before the winter weather hits again with a vengeance and prevents safe travel.
Mom and Dad are bravely soldiering on, but oh how difficult their lives are becoming. Seven days a week are tied up with timing the administering of various medications and eye drops. My mom is losing her mind trying to time everything not only for herself, but for dad as well. What a nightmare for two people in their 90's! I feel for them. There were so many things they needed assistance with that it was a perfect time for us to go for a visit. We ran errands for them, took them to medical appointments and enjoyed taking them out to their new favourite lunch spot, The Phoenix Grill! We went there two days in a row all together, then another day Mom and I went downtown shopping and ate our lunch at the wonderful James Joyce Pub, while my husband took my dad out for some dollar store shopping and again had lunch at The Phoenix Grill. hahaha Well, when Dad likes a restaurant he REALLY likes it, so why not, right? The food is delicious there so it was no problem for us to return either! One evening we took them to Hanni's for hearty angel hair pasta in rose sauce with artichoke hearts and seafood. YUM!!
My husband enjoyed the conference, but I think he enjoyed the fellowship with old colleagues and new just as much. He got a lot of rest when he wasn't either at the conference or researching for a paper he is writing.
A special treat for us was tracking down some friends we have not seen in over 15 years. It wasn't easy but we found them, still in Calgary, attended Sunday church with them in the morning at the church where I grew up, then headed out for a long and leisurely lunch. We spent over two hours in the restaurant and another hour chatting in the parking lot. We got away from Calgary so late that we only made it as far as Medicine Hat on the way home. After a marvellous dinner of green curry and Thai appetizers at The Orchid Room, we fell into bed in our cozy hotel room and were asleep just after 8:30pm!!! A first I think!!
So, of course we were awake, packed up and ready to leave for home at 5am. Fortunately for us, most of the breakfast food in the hotel was ready just after 5am and they allowed us to eat an hour prior to the usual starting time. We were on the road again by 5:30am, stopped once for gasoline and a drink and were home in Regina on the dot of 10am. So now that we have some grocery shopping done we have the rest of the day to veg!
We had a bit of ice on the highway closer to Calgary the day we drove there and one very cold and snowy day on Saturday. By Sunday it was warming nicely and this morning as we drove into Regina we could see the remains of the blustery weather they also had on the weekend.
I am grateful my husband has tomorrow off before heading back to work the next day. I am seeing a friend for coffee in the morning while my husband is at a Lutheran prayer meeting, we have OT group in the evening with the Baptists and possibly a funeral to attend of a former Anglican parishioner in the afternoon. We will see if we are able to keep up with all these ecumenical events!
So, off to see some boxing matches on tv. I love the PVR! There were no shut downs or other problems during our time away, so we have hours and hours of movies and boxing to watch this week.
Home seems so much nicer AFTER being away from it for awhile!
Thanksgiving weekend was non-existent for us as far as celebrating. I was still too ill to attend the dinner at our friends' home and my husband was too exhausted to even wake up for most of Thanksgivng Sunday. We didn't even get to church!
As I began to feel better, we decided the best thing to do would be to get out of here for a few days. It is difficult to think past the immediate moment after being stuck indoors for so long feeling gross. My husband decided to take a few days of owed study leave and attend a conference in Calgary this past weekend and I thought it would be a great time to make a last visit to see my parents before the winter weather hits again with a vengeance and prevents safe travel.
Mom and Dad are bravely soldiering on, but oh how difficult their lives are becoming. Seven days a week are tied up with timing the administering of various medications and eye drops. My mom is losing her mind trying to time everything not only for herself, but for dad as well. What a nightmare for two people in their 90's! I feel for them. There were so many things they needed assistance with that it was a perfect time for us to go for a visit. We ran errands for them, took them to medical appointments and enjoyed taking them out to their new favourite lunch spot, The Phoenix Grill! We went there two days in a row all together, then another day Mom and I went downtown shopping and ate our lunch at the wonderful James Joyce Pub, while my husband took my dad out for some dollar store shopping and again had lunch at The Phoenix Grill. hahaha Well, when Dad likes a restaurant he REALLY likes it, so why not, right? The food is delicious there so it was no problem for us to return either! One evening we took them to Hanni's for hearty angel hair pasta in rose sauce with artichoke hearts and seafood. YUM!!
My husband enjoyed the conference, but I think he enjoyed the fellowship with old colleagues and new just as much. He got a lot of rest when he wasn't either at the conference or researching for a paper he is writing.
A special treat for us was tracking down some friends we have not seen in over 15 years. It wasn't easy but we found them, still in Calgary, attended Sunday church with them in the morning at the church where I grew up, then headed out for a long and leisurely lunch. We spent over two hours in the restaurant and another hour chatting in the parking lot. We got away from Calgary so late that we only made it as far as Medicine Hat on the way home. After a marvellous dinner of green curry and Thai appetizers at The Orchid Room, we fell into bed in our cozy hotel room and were asleep just after 8:30pm!!! A first I think!!
So, of course we were awake, packed up and ready to leave for home at 5am. Fortunately for us, most of the breakfast food in the hotel was ready just after 5am and they allowed us to eat an hour prior to the usual starting time. We were on the road again by 5:30am, stopped once for gasoline and a drink and were home in Regina on the dot of 10am. So now that we have some grocery shopping done we have the rest of the day to veg!
We had a bit of ice on the highway closer to Calgary the day we drove there and one very cold and snowy day on Saturday. By Sunday it was warming nicely and this morning as we drove into Regina we could see the remains of the blustery weather they also had on the weekend.
I am grateful my husband has tomorrow off before heading back to work the next day. I am seeing a friend for coffee in the morning while my husband is at a Lutheran prayer meeting, we have OT group in the evening with the Baptists and possibly a funeral to attend of a former Anglican parishioner in the afternoon. We will see if we are able to keep up with all these ecumenical events!
So, off to see some boxing matches on tv. I love the PVR! There were no shut downs or other problems during our time away, so we have hours and hours of movies and boxing to watch this week.
Home seems so much nicer AFTER being away from it for awhile!
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Joy is What You Make of It!
I am grateful that I was able to stay awake all day in hope of sleeping tonight.
My husband and I watched two excellent boxing matches on tv.
I was able to eat three small meals today.
After dinner this evening I loaded the dishwasher, washed two days worth of “in the sink” dishes, separated bottles and tins for recycling, vacuumed the kitchen carpet, washed a load of towels, talked to my parents on the phone, put away all the laundry that has been sitting in baskets since Thursday when I became to ill to do the job and ironed seven of thirteen wrinkled articles of clothing before pooping out completely. Yay!
I am so grateful to have some of the mess around here cleaned up. My husband has spent the last two days putting the shelving back up in the basement after patching the leaking walls. We are down to only one corner now where the water poured in as last week’s snow melted. There is nothing more to be done about that as the problem is due to an ancient underground cable that was once necessary for telephone installation decades ago. The water settles into the unsettled ground around the old cable and follows it into our place....although not as much as previously. With a good catch basin system in place most of the water stayed off the floor. Thank you Lord for my inventor husband. However, I think maybe the writing is on the wall as far as remaining in this complex once the next spring snow melt occurs. We may be forced to move to a different location even if my husband is still employed here. Horrors!
Light Blogging IS coming...I promise....the coming week will be sparse for posts. Too much else going on between now and next weekend.
Happy Thanksgiving!
My husband and I watched two excellent boxing matches on tv.
I was able to eat three small meals today.
After dinner this evening I loaded the dishwasher, washed two days worth of “in the sink” dishes, separated bottles and tins for recycling, vacuumed the kitchen carpet, washed a load of towels, talked to my parents on the phone, put away all the laundry that has been sitting in baskets since Thursday when I became to ill to do the job and ironed seven of thirteen wrinkled articles of clothing before pooping out completely. Yay!
I am so grateful to have some of the mess around here cleaned up. My husband has spent the last two days putting the shelving back up in the basement after patching the leaking walls. We are down to only one corner now where the water poured in as last week’s snow melted. There is nothing more to be done about that as the problem is due to an ancient underground cable that was once necessary for telephone installation decades ago. The water settles into the unsettled ground around the old cable and follows it into our place....although not as much as previously. With a good catch basin system in place most of the water stayed off the floor. Thank you Lord for my inventor husband. However, I think maybe the writing is on the wall as far as remaining in this complex once the next spring snow melt occurs. We may be forced to move to a different location even if my husband is still employed here. Horrors!
Light Blogging IS coming...I promise....the coming week will be sparse for posts. Too much else going on between now and next weekend.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Small Joys Are Easy To Find
I am still feeling weak and tired, but a couple of lovely phone calls and emails have restored my sense of hope that I will be completely over this illness soon.
Yesterday my husband’s sister called to check on us. She has the gift of being nurturing without being smarmy and smothering. She has practical ideas and advice. It was an uplifting call for her ill sister in law and her soon to be unemployed brother!!!
Then this afternoon we had a fun SKYPE session with our son. He is happy to be home in NYC after more than two weeks of being constantly surrounded by other people. As much as he enjoyed having travelling companions for the first time, he is used to living alone and was ready to get back to it. What a fabulous trip he had. He is ready now to make some serious decisions about his employment situation and, after more than a year of putting his Humpty Dumpty broken self back together again, is ready to rethink his future and possibly, finally, start being able to flog his own art again. We are excited for him. He wants to come to see us at Christmas. This is the first time in years he has asked to come home for the holidays. We pray for a way to make it possible.
So now I am exhausted in the attempt to get my days and nights straight once again, from forcing myself to eat again, from the excitement of a hot shower and an hour long SKYPE. Yawn.....
Joyful things......
Yesterday my husband’s sister called to check on us. She has the gift of being nurturing without being smarmy and smothering. She has practical ideas and advice. It was an uplifting call for her ill sister in law and her soon to be unemployed brother!!!
Then this afternoon we had a fun SKYPE session with our son. He is happy to be home in NYC after more than two weeks of being constantly surrounded by other people. As much as he enjoyed having travelling companions for the first time, he is used to living alone and was ready to get back to it. What a fabulous trip he had. He is ready now to make some serious decisions about his employment situation and, after more than a year of putting his Humpty Dumpty broken self back together again, is ready to rethink his future and possibly, finally, start being able to flog his own art again. We are excited for him. He wants to come to see us at Christmas. This is the first time in years he has asked to come home for the holidays. We pray for a way to make it possible.
So now I am exhausted in the attempt to get my days and nights straight once again, from forcing myself to eat again, from the excitement of a hot shower and an hour long SKYPE. Yawn.....
Joyful things......
Saturday, October 6, 2018
Light Blogging Ahead.....
It is going to take a long time to get over this illness apparently, so unless I have something unexpectedly exciting to report, it will be a few days before I post again. (Relax Auntie Phyl, I am not dying, haha)
I think my husband can well represent us at the Thanksgiving dinner with friends I won’t be able to go to tomorrow and the break to see his special buddy there will be good for him. As exhausted as he was after a 12 hour work day yesterday, he took great care of me when he got home. Today he is going to be able to work from home so I don’t have to be alone again. What a sweetie, I am blessed.
So, I will post again when I feel better and life’s joys are once again in the forefront of my thoughts.
I think my husband can well represent us at the Thanksgiving dinner with friends I won’t be able to go to tomorrow and the break to see his special buddy there will be good for him. As exhausted as he was after a 12 hour work day yesterday, he took great care of me when he got home. Today he is going to be able to work from home so I don’t have to be alone again. What a sweetie, I am blessed.
So, I will post again when I feel better and life’s joys are once again in the forefront of my thoughts.
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