A: They have all become politicians in the Canadian House of Commons! ('Nuff said...)
I am sitting here this evening in the darkness of my living room watching huge, fat, fluffy flakes of snow cascading down and being lit up by the street lights outside my window. There is amazing beauty happening just outside my suite and I am so enjoying looking at it. The ice it will create by morning after it freezes tonight will not be enjoyable or amazing or beautiful, but for now I can sit here in my Mark's comfy robe on my equally comfy couch and revel in the fact that I live in a place that has amazing extremes of weather to experience.
I am so glad we decided not to participate in Halloween tonight. In our entire complex there were only four suites with their lights on indicating treats were available there. Most people here whose kids go door to door drove away with their families around 5pm and were gone for hours. They all did their trick or treating elsewhere. This is the most relaxing place to ignore Halloween of anywhere we have ever lived!! Fantastic!!
My husband's mid morning meeting today was upped to early morning so he had no opportunity to join in the 7am line up at the tire store to have our winter tires installed. So....VERY early in the morning he is going to have to force himself to get up at 6am and be first in line for tire changing if he wants to get to his job out of town before noon. This afternoon he could have taken his chances and called around the city to find a place with an opening to take our vehicle, but he had to finish writing and preparing a monologue to present at a church service this evening. (I planned to go with him until I found out the service was going to be over 2.5 hours in length and would keep me out until 11pm.) So, we have to pray and trust that somehow my husband will have the energy to get up and get those tires taken care of. I am so grateful he is feeling sufficiently well these days to get out to his parish and start making up the days he lost this past month due to his health problems....at least he will be if bad weather and summer tires don't stop him!
I have my (hopefully) final series of eye tests tomorrow morning. They begin at 8:10am. My husband has to be at the tire store instead of driving me to my appointment. That normally would be no problem as the bus to the ophthamologist's office picks me up at my front door and deposits me at the front door of his office. Naturally enough though in my world, as usual, there is a small glitch. hahahahaha The main thoroughfare that my bus has to cross to get to the stop I need to get off at is going to be closed all day tomorrow for road construction. I am going to have to get off the bus several blocks away from the office and likely skate the rest of the way. If it wasn't that this is how things usually go around here I wouldn't believe it!! hahaha So, my prayer is that by some miracle there will not be a coating of ice all over everything from tonight's snow showers....OR that I will manage to traverse the distance between bus and office without falling....both will take a miracle indeed. I could say "it never rains, but it pours", only that is a pretty bad joke at the moment. hahaha
I had a long talk with my parents this evening. I hope the laughter I was able to pull out of them both will last them for awhile. They are pretty discouraged and understandably so. Sigh..... We have been assuming that their low income would mean they qualify for some government assistance to get them into long term care, dad in particular. Not so. They are a few dollars above the cut off income, not enough to help them pay for what they actually need, but more than they can have to qualify for help. That really threw us all for a loop. Dad is so discouraged about his ever worsening blindness that he could hardly discipline himself to show a whit of interest in Mom's health issues or mine or my husband's or in anything to do with his grandson. He was as low as I have ever heard him. Mom got excited when the home care supervisor started talking about someone coming in to do the laundry until she found out how much it is going to cost. So, she will continue to struggle along and do her best to handle it. I admit when she told me the price it rather took my breath away. Wow..... One good thing though is that part of the price of their current care includes having someone come each morning between 8am and 8:30am to dress Dad and then the person will come back and get him ready for bed again after dinner each evening. So, they are going to take advantage of that and it will be a big load off Mom not having to manhandle him into and out of his clothes every day. There are some positives. The other thing is that the home care supervisor finally got Dad's permission to get his and Mom's names on her list of people needing to be moved into long term care as soon as an affordable opportunity arises. Yes, it could be a long time before that happens, but at least they are finally on a list!! This is when it is good to be able to cling to the mercy of God that at the right time a place will open up that they can afford, despite it looking absolutely impossible right now.
This morning I tackled my large pile of ironing and got it all done in a couple of hours. I put on some old '60s and '70s tunes and sang along as best I could in my croaky old voice. It was fun and a great way to pass the time while my husband was at a work meeting. So many of our clothes need to be ironed because we wear mostly 100% cotton items, but I don't mind the work. Ironing is okay. Vacuuming is tolerable. Cleaning bathroom and kitchen fixtures is manageable. Dusting however.....blecch!!!! My husband arrived home with our vehicle just before lunch time and told me the snow on the roads was melted off and muddy water was covering everything, so I took off on our summer tires and did the rest of the month end banking. I have joined the senior parade to the banks on Canadian government pension deposit day. hahaha
So I have switched over to my winter boots and my hip is starting to give me problems once again. I learned though after the spring fiasco not to baby it and pushed through the morning pain. By noon it was starting to behave itself. I am going to have to take note when I walk in my winter boots how to adjust my stride and weight balance to avoid spending half the winter in physiotherapy to keep my thigh muscles happy. Glad I learned so much last time this happened. It will make the adjustment far easier this time around.
Our son has completed day four of six at the monastery. He has no cell phone or WiFi service there so is really living the monastic life as far as not having electronic devices at hand. He is attending prayer times and eating his meals in communal monastic silence...that must be the most difficult part of the whole week for our very social son.
I suppose I should go to bed early so I can catch the bus at 7:30am tomorrow. It is tempting to wait up for my husband to get home from the church service...hmmm...is the book I am currently reading interesting enough to keep me awake until then or will I just end up reading myself to sleep?
Happy Halloween everyone!
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
I Was WRONG! The Geese Are NOT Gone!!
The six geese presently standing in front of my building on the newly shovelled sidewalk are not a figment of my imagination being fired up from the exhaustion of doing more laundry and housework today than originally planned. They really are there....standing on the sidewalk, pooping hither and yon as they try to pull up and eat a few tufts of grass that are showing from under the snow drifts.
Hey, crazy geese....did you not get the map of the migration route to far away southern places when the rest of the goose population left the city? I know there are always a few geese who heartily wait out the return of spring from over closer to the east side of the city where there are a few open waters from the city water and sewage system that do not completely freeze over, but never in the past five years have we had any of your ilk remaining here at our complex after the first snowfall.
Guess snow will not after all be the only thing I will be shovelling up this winter. If we can't even get a break from goose poo over the winter, that pretty much clinches it that we will be moving elsewhere in the city next spring to get away from the mess.
Dang it.....dumb geese.....poopy poo.....blecch....waaaaaahhhhhh.....
Hey, crazy geese....did you not get the map of the migration route to far away southern places when the rest of the goose population left the city? I know there are always a few geese who heartily wait out the return of spring from over closer to the east side of the city where there are a few open waters from the city water and sewage system that do not completely freeze over, but never in the past five years have we had any of your ilk remaining here at our complex after the first snowfall.
Guess snow will not after all be the only thing I will be shovelling up this winter. If we can't even get a break from goose poo over the winter, that pretty much clinches it that we will be moving elsewhere in the city next spring to get away from the mess.
Dang it.....dumb geese.....poopy poo.....blecch....waaaaaahhhhhh.....
We’re Havin’ a Heatwave , A Tropical Heatwave...Prairie Style!
We are supposedly heading for a high of +3C this afternoon, followed by several days of highs between +1C and +3C!!! Oooooh, the joy! Be still my heart! Those temperatures are just warm enough to partially melt our present ten centimetres of snow during the day and then refreeze the running water on the streets and sidewalks overnight, creating a base of ice under subsequent snowfalls for the rest of the winter! Oh joy, oh bliss! Imagine our excitement!
Okay, I admit the true joy of having four seasons each year is wearing a tad thin. We have had less than one week of true winter weather and I am all ready over it! Blecch! My husband and I have begun preliminary discussions about our future once our present rental lease expires at the end of next May. It coincides with a time of re-evaluation of the parish where my husband is currently employed. If the parish has not grown sufficiently in folk and finances they will likely reduce their budget so that they will not be paying a priest any more. So, a move to even less expensive accommodation may be upon us then.
Over the past year I did the research necessary to find out if our hope of retirement in Panama would be viable and, sadly, it is not. My husband’s annual pension income is right on the border of what their government will accept for immigration but mine is far too low. Sigh....now that it is not going to happen I can admit how much I (we?) hoped it was a real possibility.
So, time to put that possibility behind us and create a new plan.
Perhaps a small motor home parked at some obscure beach along the west coast? Nope, should have done that before we developed all these dratted health issues that are keeping us tied to the phone waiting for calls from various specialists!
The old Anglican Church in the hamlet of Pennant SK is affordable for us to purchase, but it is....well....it is located....in the hamlet of Pennant, where there are still four seasons, the longest of which is winter, just like it is here. Sigh.... oh yeah, and then too it would have to be gutted and outfitted for residential use....so....nope, that won’t work either.
Hmmmmmm......so many options and in the end we will likely end up living here in ever increasingly dreadful accommodation for the rest of our lives. It is the way of the aged who live below the poverty line.
It’s just life.
And you know what? Life is good! My flirtation with depression on the weekend seems to have ended and I have slept well for several night in a row. The idea of a moving adventure next spring is beginning to feel kind of exciting rather than dreadful and daunting, even if it is a move within this same city.
When a murky, unforeseeable future starts to feel like an exciting adventure, I know I’m am going to be okay.
Okay, I admit the true joy of having four seasons each year is wearing a tad thin. We have had less than one week of true winter weather and I am all ready over it! Blecch! My husband and I have begun preliminary discussions about our future once our present rental lease expires at the end of next May. It coincides with a time of re-evaluation of the parish where my husband is currently employed. If the parish has not grown sufficiently in folk and finances they will likely reduce their budget so that they will not be paying a priest any more. So, a move to even less expensive accommodation may be upon us then.
Over the past year I did the research necessary to find out if our hope of retirement in Panama would be viable and, sadly, it is not. My husband’s annual pension income is right on the border of what their government will accept for immigration but mine is far too low. Sigh....now that it is not going to happen I can admit how much I (we?) hoped it was a real possibility.
So, time to put that possibility behind us and create a new plan.
Perhaps a small motor home parked at some obscure beach along the west coast? Nope, should have done that before we developed all these dratted health issues that are keeping us tied to the phone waiting for calls from various specialists!
The old Anglican Church in the hamlet of Pennant SK is affordable for us to purchase, but it is....well....it is located....in the hamlet of Pennant, where there are still four seasons, the longest of which is winter, just like it is here. Sigh.... oh yeah, and then too it would have to be gutted and outfitted for residential use....so....nope, that won’t work either.
Hmmmmmm......so many options and in the end we will likely end up living here in ever increasingly dreadful accommodation for the rest of our lives. It is the way of the aged who live below the poverty line.
It’s just life.
And you know what? Life is good! My flirtation with depression on the weekend seems to have ended and I have slept well for several night in a row. The idea of a moving adventure next spring is beginning to feel kind of exciting rather than dreadful and daunting, even if it is a move within this same city.
When a murky, unforeseeable future starts to feel like an exciting adventure, I know I’m am going to be okay.
Waiting For The Phone Calls.....
.....from now five different specialists, three for my husband and two for myself! There is still no word for him, three months later, from the plastic surgeon, not from the gastroenterologist or the dietician and now I have added an ophthalmologist and dental surgeon to our growing list of doctors offices who need to call us to make appointments. hahaha Good grief! We can only pray our referrals do not get lost in the many faxed referrals received every day by these specialists’ offices in our under staffed local medical community. Pray and hope....that is all I can do right now.
My dental cleaning went very well today. The hygienist who cleaned my teeth six months ago is no longer employed there. She used what I call the Sand Blasting method of dental cleaning. I felt, I am sure, like a car chassis feels when it is having an old paint job sand blasted off in preparation for a new one. My teeth were sensitive and too painful to brush properly for two weeks afterward. The nerve endings in my mouth were hypersensitive!
Today a different hygienist returned to the good old scaling method with picks and floss. It was wonderful, no pummeling of my poor unsuspecting teeth and gums, and I have had zero post procedure pain! Yay!
The dentist checked the calcification under my tongue, agreed with me that it has grown over the last few months and that it must be removed. She sent in the referral to the dental surgeon on the spot. I hope I get a call soon. Once it is removed it will have to be biopsied. Statistically one Canadian dies from some form of oral cancer every hour. Early detection is crucial. While we do not believe there is cancer involved, I want to be certain.
Going to my weekly prayer group this afternoon was such a wonderful break away from all things medical! It is a wonderful group of women who are so supportive of each other. Once again, I feel so grateful to be included in their midst.
One good thing about our bitterly cold and snowy weather is that it gets me out shovelling, thereby firing up my motivation to get some work done. I shovelled right before dinner, getting my energy up sufficiently to do a load of laundry and clean the stove top after dinner. Tearing the burners apart and cleaning everything properly was exhilarating!
Tonight the temperature is dropping to -17C. A couple of nights from now it will getting close to -20C. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!
My dental cleaning went very well today. The hygienist who cleaned my teeth six months ago is no longer employed there. She used what I call the Sand Blasting method of dental cleaning. I felt, I am sure, like a car chassis feels when it is having an old paint job sand blasted off in preparation for a new one. My teeth were sensitive and too painful to brush properly for two weeks afterward. The nerve endings in my mouth were hypersensitive!
Today a different hygienist returned to the good old scaling method with picks and floss. It was wonderful, no pummeling of my poor unsuspecting teeth and gums, and I have had zero post procedure pain! Yay!
The dentist checked the calcification under my tongue, agreed with me that it has grown over the last few months and that it must be removed. She sent in the referral to the dental surgeon on the spot. I hope I get a call soon. Once it is removed it will have to be biopsied. Statistically one Canadian dies from some form of oral cancer every hour. Early detection is crucial. While we do not believe there is cancer involved, I want to be certain.
Going to my weekly prayer group this afternoon was such a wonderful break away from all things medical! It is a wonderful group of women who are so supportive of each other. Once again, I feel so grateful to be included in their midst.
One good thing about our bitterly cold and snowy weather is that it gets me out shovelling, thereby firing up my motivation to get some work done. I shovelled right before dinner, getting my energy up sufficiently to do a load of laundry and clean the stove top after dinner. Tearing the burners apart and cleaning everything properly was exhilarating!
Tonight the temperature is dropping to -17C. A couple of nights from now it will getting close to -20C. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Icons
That is what my son will be learning about and painting this week. The Prosopon School of Iconography is in the New York area this week, teaching not only the background history and understanding of the symbolism behind iconography, the students are not only painting an icon of St. Michael this week, but they are also learning or relearning Christian teachings about God and humans and basic Christian theology.
The son is so very excited about the entire course. His cold cleared up in time for him to attend, so that is a great relief. Thank you Lord. We can’t wait to see his completed icon and hear about all his adventures. He has been surrounded by Buddhist friends and philosophy of late, so is anxious to immerse himself in this week of intense Christian teaching and environment.
The life of the Anglican Benedictines at the Holy Cross monastery will be an eye opener for him.
The son is so very excited about the entire course. His cold cleared up in time for him to attend, so that is a great relief. Thank you Lord. We can’t wait to see his completed icon and hear about all his adventures. He has been surrounded by Buddhist friends and philosophy of late, so is anxious to immerse himself in this week of intense Christian teaching and environment.
The life of the Anglican Benedictines at the Holy Cross monastery will be an eye opener for him.
Monday, October 28, 2019
Blizzarding on the Outside; Sunny on the Inside!
This morning we went along to my husband's doctor for his ultrasound results. As we have been suspecting they would, the results showed up absolutely no problem. Other test results were waiting for him as well and other than a small but consistent rise in his triglycerides over the past year, every result is clear, negative and well within normal range. So now he is waiting not only for a call from a gastoenterologist for a scope, but from a dietician. His doctor wants the dietician's input in a last ditch effort to prevent my husband from having to take statins.
So, while we wait we are taking other actions with his diet. After looking back over the past 30 years worth of food and symptom entries in his journals, we have decided to treat this whole issue as a coming out of remission of his Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, (myalgic encephalomyelitis).
Starting on Saturday, since we have a long outstanding dinner invitation coming up this Friday evening we don't want to miss, he will begin changing his diet over to one of proteins and cooked vegetables. There will be no bread, no cereal and only the occasional scoop of potatoes or rice when he just has to have a break to keep his sanity. Black tea intake has all ready been reduced to one cup per day and that will continue. The elimination of most non-vegetable carbs and as many refined sugars as possible is never a bad idea, but for him it has proven in the past to be essential to controlling his CFS related digestive issues when they arise.
So, we are happy clappy that no tumors, no tumor markers, nor any other indications of cancer in his system have been found to date.
After the appointment we decided to celebrate the present good news and since we were going to the east side to grocery shop and do banking, we stopped in at east side Famoso's for a bowl of their delicious tomato bisque. Oh, it is to die for and we are not even great fans of restaurant soups. hahaha I paired mine with a caesar salad and my husband had a teeny weeny pizza. If he has to give up pizza crusts for a few months or a year, he decided to cram in a few such treats between now and Saturday.
Then we went grocery shopping. When we left the store and started driving home, a mini blizzard was blowing in. That was a couple of hours ago now and the snow has only just stopped coming down in thick, blowing bundles of white fuzziness. So very beautiful, despite us not yet having had time to get the snow tires installed on our vehicle. (ooops, our bad.....) We have several unforecast centimetres of snow that is drifting badly across our back path to the parking lot. Another season of shovelling is upon us. With the goose problem, we shovel all year round!!! Shovel snow...shovel shi*%....shovel snow....shovel sh*%...and so it goes througout each year.
Hopefully we can just relax now for the rest of the day. The streets are sufficiently icy that my husband has all ready volunteered to take me to my dental appointment tomorrow morning so that I won't panic when I skid a bit at the snow packed, icy intersections. We will get those tires put on, we will, we will, we will....at some point when we get a day with no medical appointments. Hmmmm, what day will that be I wonder!! hahaha
I think I will go now and wash a couple of loads of laundry...my goodness that laundry hamper gets full in a hurry these days!
Thanks everyone for praying for my husband. If you are up for continuing in prayer as God leads, we would certainly appreciate it. We are encouraged at the moment and feel like we can at least be more proactive with his diet!
So, while we wait we are taking other actions with his diet. After looking back over the past 30 years worth of food and symptom entries in his journals, we have decided to treat this whole issue as a coming out of remission of his Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, (myalgic encephalomyelitis).
Starting on Saturday, since we have a long outstanding dinner invitation coming up this Friday evening we don't want to miss, he will begin changing his diet over to one of proteins and cooked vegetables. There will be no bread, no cereal and only the occasional scoop of potatoes or rice when he just has to have a break to keep his sanity. Black tea intake has all ready been reduced to one cup per day and that will continue. The elimination of most non-vegetable carbs and as many refined sugars as possible is never a bad idea, but for him it has proven in the past to be essential to controlling his CFS related digestive issues when they arise.
So, we are happy clappy that no tumors, no tumor markers, nor any other indications of cancer in his system have been found to date.
After the appointment we decided to celebrate the present good news and since we were going to the east side to grocery shop and do banking, we stopped in at east side Famoso's for a bowl of their delicious tomato bisque. Oh, it is to die for and we are not even great fans of restaurant soups. hahaha I paired mine with a caesar salad and my husband had a teeny weeny pizza. If he has to give up pizza crusts for a few months or a year, he decided to cram in a few such treats between now and Saturday.
Then we went grocery shopping. When we left the store and started driving home, a mini blizzard was blowing in. That was a couple of hours ago now and the snow has only just stopped coming down in thick, blowing bundles of white fuzziness. So very beautiful, despite us not yet having had time to get the snow tires installed on our vehicle. (ooops, our bad.....) We have several unforecast centimetres of snow that is drifting badly across our back path to the parking lot. Another season of shovelling is upon us. With the goose problem, we shovel all year round!!! Shovel snow...shovel shi*%....shovel snow....shovel sh*%...and so it goes througout each year.
Hopefully we can just relax now for the rest of the day. The streets are sufficiently icy that my husband has all ready volunteered to take me to my dental appointment tomorrow morning so that I won't panic when I skid a bit at the snow packed, icy intersections. We will get those tires put on, we will, we will, we will....at some point when we get a day with no medical appointments. Hmmmm, what day will that be I wonder!! hahaha
I think I will go now and wash a couple of loads of laundry...my goodness that laundry hamper gets full in a hurry these days!
Thanks everyone for praying for my husband. If you are up for continuing in prayer as God leads, we would certainly appreciate it. We are encouraged at the moment and feel like we can at least be more proactive with his diet!
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Winter Is Now Upon Us For Real!
We have experienced the occasional day with a few snow flurries and/or chilly winds several times in the past month to let us know that Regina has not gone rogue with its seasons and winter will come as per usual this year.
Well, it came all right, overnight and into today. Wow...two days ago it was +16C and today we won't be reaching a high of more than about -5C. There was enough snow coming down overnight and this morning to stick to the warm lawns and pavement, so where it has packed down at busy intersections and on low foot traffic sidewalks, it is icy indeed...very slippery in spots. The wind is strong and it is bitterly cold. Brrrrrrrr.......chatter, chatter, chatter go a person's teeth if a person is standing outside.
The church building was so cozy, warm and welcoming even after our very short walk from where we parked the car. The wind seemed to bite right through our winter coats. I am so glad I thought far enough ahead last evening to haul out my winter boots and get them dusted and ready for wear. I certainly needed them today.
After the church service we dumped our warm selves back out onto the cold street and headed off to Earl's restaurant for lunch with dear friends. They decided it was their turn to treat us, so that was a lovely surprise. I enjoyed my eggs benedict very much. The eggs and the hollandaise sauce were hot and delicious and the potatoes on the side had the skins on, which I love. We had the best visit with our friends that we have had in some time.
What a shock to walk back out into the winter weather after our hot meal! It is going to take some getting used to this year that winter arrived with such an explosion of cold! There was no working into it this year, that's for sure. We had planned originally to go out to the east side of the city to do a fairly large grocery shop, but changed our minds rather quickly after lunch. Cold air makes a person tired! We opted instead to make a quick stop at a store closer to the restaurant for a handful of necessities and leave the rest of the purchases until tomorrow after my husband's doctor's appointment. There is a gasoline station at the store where we stopped so we filled the car with gasoline that should last us for a couple of weeks now. Done!
Then we came home and crawled into our fuzzy, warm house clothes! I have some boxing matches on tv we can watch later, some chicken breasts thawed to cook up for dinner....yup, the rest of today will be most relaxing.
Thank you God for winter....I WILL be grateful for this season, I WILL, I WILL, I WILL......
Well, it came all right, overnight and into today. Wow...two days ago it was +16C and today we won't be reaching a high of more than about -5C. There was enough snow coming down overnight and this morning to stick to the warm lawns and pavement, so where it has packed down at busy intersections and on low foot traffic sidewalks, it is icy indeed...very slippery in spots. The wind is strong and it is bitterly cold. Brrrrrrrr.......chatter, chatter, chatter go a person's teeth if a person is standing outside.
The church building was so cozy, warm and welcoming even after our very short walk from where we parked the car. The wind seemed to bite right through our winter coats. I am so glad I thought far enough ahead last evening to haul out my winter boots and get them dusted and ready for wear. I certainly needed them today.
After the church service we dumped our warm selves back out onto the cold street and headed off to Earl's restaurant for lunch with dear friends. They decided it was their turn to treat us, so that was a lovely surprise. I enjoyed my eggs benedict very much. The eggs and the hollandaise sauce were hot and delicious and the potatoes on the side had the skins on, which I love. We had the best visit with our friends that we have had in some time.
What a shock to walk back out into the winter weather after our hot meal! It is going to take some getting used to this year that winter arrived with such an explosion of cold! There was no working into it this year, that's for sure. We had planned originally to go out to the east side of the city to do a fairly large grocery shop, but changed our minds rather quickly after lunch. Cold air makes a person tired! We opted instead to make a quick stop at a store closer to the restaurant for a handful of necessities and leave the rest of the purchases until tomorrow after my husband's doctor's appointment. There is a gasoline station at the store where we stopped so we filled the car with gasoline that should last us for a couple of weeks now. Done!
Then we came home and crawled into our fuzzy, warm house clothes! I have some boxing matches on tv we can watch later, some chicken breasts thawed to cook up for dinner....yup, the rest of today will be most relaxing.
Thank you God for winter....I WILL be grateful for this season, I WILL, I WILL, I WILL......
A Difference In A Day
Taking yesterday off from “real life” was certainly the right thing to do! I am just awakening from the best night’s sleep I have had in a week and I feel cheery and bright and clear minded! Awesome! I am looking forward to attending church today instead of feeling like it is just one more time commitment in a never ending parade of appointments and obligations. Hallelujah! For today, I can cope. Thank you Lord. 😸
I read over the handout notes last night from the Deuteronomy seminar and as usual Dr. Friebel’s notes are detailed and understandable. His explanations in regard to the type of covenant that existed between Jahweh and his people makes sense of the intensity of God’s judgement after generations of disobedience on the part of Israel and Judah. They knew what they were getting into, what kind of serious covenant they were agreeing to with God and should not have been shocked by his eventual response as they continued to behave as if the covenant was meaningless. The information is causing me to pause and take stock of my own present relationship with God. I needed this reminder of what I have agreed to in my acceptance of Christ as Lord in my life and I am seeing how casually I have been treating my own “discipleship covenant”. Yes, there is forgiveness in Christ, but there needs to be a recognition on my part that I have not been paying as much attention to my walk with him as I need to be, some repentance and a turning back to the direction I am supposed to be walking in are required. Hmmmm....lots of good food for thought and action. I don’t want to have some kind of namby pamby relationship with God. I need to get back into the spiritual and cultural revolution that happens when I truly try to walk with Jesus. Today I feel like I have more strength to work on that. The point of God’s punishment for continual breaking of covenant relationship by his people is to restore them to right relationship with him, not to show how big a tantrum he can pitch. The point of all of his punitive actions is to restore not simply to display his power. Timely teaching for me.
I read over the handout notes last night from the Deuteronomy seminar and as usual Dr. Friebel’s notes are detailed and understandable. His explanations in regard to the type of covenant that existed between Jahweh and his people makes sense of the intensity of God’s judgement after generations of disobedience on the part of Israel and Judah. They knew what they were getting into, what kind of serious covenant they were agreeing to with God and should not have been shocked by his eventual response as they continued to behave as if the covenant was meaningless. The information is causing me to pause and take stock of my own present relationship with God. I needed this reminder of what I have agreed to in my acceptance of Christ as Lord in my life and I am seeing how casually I have been treating my own “discipleship covenant”. Yes, there is forgiveness in Christ, but there needs to be a recognition on my part that I have not been paying as much attention to my walk with him as I need to be, some repentance and a turning back to the direction I am supposed to be walking in are required. Hmmmm....lots of good food for thought and action. I don’t want to have some kind of namby pamby relationship with God. I need to get back into the spiritual and cultural revolution that happens when I truly try to walk with Jesus. Today I feel like I have more strength to work on that. The point of God’s punishment for continual breaking of covenant relationship by his people is to restore them to right relationship with him, not to show how big a tantrum he can pitch. The point of all of his punitive actions is to restore not simply to display his power. Timely teaching for me.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Why I Am So Excited About Our Chef Son Coming Home In A Few Weeks
 | ||
| Perfectly cooked steak and mushrooms...YES! |
Not to mention his amazing fish tacos, spicy spaghetti sauces, his choices of cheeses and sausages and Italian meats....aiiii yiiiii....looking forward to this visit is keeping all 3 of us going in the midst of one trial after another. Thank you God for our family, tiny as it is.
Cancellation For Self-Preservation!
At this very moment I should be completing the first hour of the long awaited all day seminar on Deuteronomy. Instead I am, disappointingly yet wisely, here at home lounging around in a grubby nightgown, unshowered, exhausted and feeling more relief than upset about missing out on the seminar I have longed to attend for the past several months. I don't feel too badly about my husband having to attend without me because another friend asked him for a ride and they were able to go together. He will bring home a copy of the excellent notes the prof always provides and then my husband can enjoy filling in the lecture gaps for me. That will be almost as good as being at the seminar in person.
I started crashing yesterday during my extended series of eye appointments. Everything was just fine for the 8:30am pressure tests. My husband drove me over and waited with a favourite book while I had my first session. We had time then to drive home for lunch before the next battery of testing began. Unfortunately my husband had an incorrect appointment time lodged in his mind and, thinking we were going to be late getting back to the clinic, gulped his lunch down far too quickly and then raced off to get his coat and car keys, only to find me still sitting at the table finishing up my own meal. Four early mornings in a row for his, then my, medical tests on top of poor sleeps and an experimental attempt at drinking black tea that very morning, on top of his too quickly eaten lunch and the stress of thinking we were late, all combined to bring on the first more serious tummy episode he has had in over a week. By the time we were actually supposed to be leaving for the clinic, he was sitting in a living room chair with an ice pack on his tummy, trying to convince me he could still manage to drive me to my appointment. No way was I going to ask him to do that. I left the car with him in case he needed to make an emergency trip to the hospital and flew out the front door to the bus stop with only about three minutes to spare. It was too late to walk that far.
The second series of testing was when I realized I was in trouble with all the stresses of late. I was taking a periphery test, beginning with my compromised eye. It was easy enough. I covered my other eye with a patch while staring with the test eye at a small orange dot on the screen in front of me. The technician gave me a "clicker" and told me to push the button every time any yellow dots of varying degrees of brightness appeared in my line of sight. The blasted test seemed to go on and on. I knew I was too slow reacting with the button and missed several of the yellow dots I could actually see and you know what? I realized I couldn't have cared less. NOT GOOD! I just wanted to shut my eye against that glowing orange centre dot and go to sleep. My reaction caught my own attention sufficiently to smarten me up for the same test on my other eye. When it was over I told the tech a short version of my struggles and asked if the first eye could be re-tested. She said she wasn't prepared to take the time to do that and that I would be re-tested in six months. I teared up immediately, grateful I had no more testing to do in that session because I was so teary I wouldn't have been able to see anything at all. It took every ounce of emotional strength I had to keep from actually shedding tears as I left the office for the hour in between the end of that session and the beginning of the third one.
Over my noon break at home I received an email from a very dear friend who suggested gently but firmly that I am regressing into a state of depression from all the stress going on around me with so many other family members ill and dying and far away. I didn't want to believe it, but I knew as soon as I read it that she is right. It has been over 20 years since the spectre of that horrible disease has loomed large in my life. During my teary break between sessions 2 and 3, I walked downtown to get a drink at the Cornwall Centre food fair, but couldn't face the prospect of standing in the longer than usual mid afternoon line ups to get the sugar free sodas and sparkling water that I can have. So, what did I stupidly do? Only 2 hours after my lunch? I trotted over to Zam Zam Wraps and ordered a bowl of lentil soup....absolutely fabulous...absolutely carb ridden....absolutely eaten at the wrong time of the afternoon....absolutely unnecessary!! Food soothing....o dear Lord, I will never lose the rest of the excess weight doing that!! Fear of standing in line for water because it seems too daunting...not normal!
Session three at the eye clinic was mercifully short. I walked out of the building just as my bus home left the stop and instead of not caring because at rush hour the bus comes every 15 minutes, I felt frustrated and put upon. So, rather than waiting to end up standing up in a crowded bus and hanging on for dear life to the overhead straps, I decided a 45 minute walk home would be just fine. Why not? The last warm day of the season would be a perfect day for such a walk. I had only gone about two blocks when my leg muscles started to scream with such achiness I could hardly stand up. By the time I was half way home I was in so much discomfort I contemplated sitting myself down along a streetside curb for a rest. I didn't want to look like a street person though, so I forced myself to keep going....slower and slower and slower. I started to panic at one point wondering what would happen if I just leaned against a tree for a couple of hours and waited for my husband to realize I was missing and come looking for me. So why didn't I call him to see if he was over his tummy incident and if he could give me a ride the rest of the way? Well, because when I left the house in such a frantic hurry I left my cell phone sitting on the coffee table in the living room. Aaaaargh! No cell phone when I actually needed to use it!! It is a rare occurrence that I use my phone, but how could I have been so foolish as to leave it at home yesterday of all days???? Not thinking straight. Bad!
(In the meantime my poor husband was upstairs in our suite texting me to say he was over the attack and would love to come and pick me up and where was I and why wasn't I texting him back????? Since he was upstairs he couldn't hear my phone buzzing downstairs, so by the time I arrived home he was gearing up to come looking for me!)
I didn't stop and lean against a tree in case I couldn't get mobile again, so plodded gamely onward toward home. The final confirmation to me that depression is and has been responsible for a number of physical reactions I have had in the past week came about when I crossed the last crosswalk on the way home and realized I only had one very long block remaining to get to my front door. Instantly the pain in my legs departed, my stride lengthened and all was well! INSTANTLY upon that realization the pain departed! Yeah....over twenty years ago I experienced similar types of physical reactions during an extended time of extreme life stress. As I thought about it, the old memories of that time returned. Yup, my friend is right. I am struggling to cope and it is showing up mostly in a physical muscle reaction and in a nightly lack of being able to sleep.
I talked it over with my husband when I arrived home and found him feeling so much better. He agreed with me that it is time for me to start doing some self-care. Lately I have been learning a lot about what that can entail from a younger friend who has only recently begun looking after herself after many years of serving her family, friends, work and church to the point of starting to burn out. I thought about what she has been doing lately for her own care and healing and decided it is time to pay attention to those things and put myself on a similar track, at least until all the extended family issues all around me start to resolve and some measure of peace is restored.
I am grateful to my two friends: one who wasn't afraid to point out the potential problem and another who has shown me through her own example some ways to deal with the problem. Today I dealt with the problem by cancelling my attendance at the one scheduled event in the next week that I have the option to miss. I was able to make a choice and I did. Yay me!
God is good. He may not always preserve us from trouble nor prevent us from being fully human, but he brings along support, solutions, comfort and many understanding friends in the midst of trials. It's why I follow him. He is worthy and I am grateful he is out there being his omnipotent self because I feel safe in the big picture even when the immediate seems frightening.
By after dinner last evening my husband and I had both pulled our health together long enough to attend a fun wedding shower for a couple from my church. It was a lovely evening with way too much good food, excellent fellowship and a wonderful chance to share in the joy of the couple being married. It was a lovely way to end a stressful day of medical tests and much self-examination. It felt like a reward! haha
AND I am very, very, very glad I went ahead and walked home yesterday because overnight the gale force winds arrived and brought not only a sprinkling of light snow, but plummeting temperatures. Yesterday I walked home in sunny +15C and today's high temperature will only be +1C! The sky is iron grey with clouds. No wonder our building felt like it was being battered by a tropical storm all night. A massive change of weather system was on its way. We have had it pretty easy though compared to north and centre Alberta and Saskatchewan where there has been a lot of blowing snow aalong with icy conditions closing highways there as early as yesterday afternoon while we were still basking in the warmth! GOTTA get our snow tires on in the next week or so, but another three mornings of early medical appointments await us. My husband gets his test results on Monday morning, I spend Tuesday morning at the dentist for a cleaning and a prep for a meeting with the dental surgeon and then the final session of eye examinations awaits me next Friday. I can only pray that my husband's test results do not leave us scrambling for more appointments for him next week. Aaaaaargh...so many medical appointments, so little time!!!
Time to check in with my parents and see how they are holding up in preparation for their housing meetings next week. I am praying for a miracle that somehow they can make a move together into the same facility for a price they can afford. It really will take a near miracle to make that happen, but we can ask God for what we think we need and see what he does in answer to our prayers.
I started crashing yesterday during my extended series of eye appointments. Everything was just fine for the 8:30am pressure tests. My husband drove me over and waited with a favourite book while I had my first session. We had time then to drive home for lunch before the next battery of testing began. Unfortunately my husband had an incorrect appointment time lodged in his mind and, thinking we were going to be late getting back to the clinic, gulped his lunch down far too quickly and then raced off to get his coat and car keys, only to find me still sitting at the table finishing up my own meal. Four early mornings in a row for his, then my, medical tests on top of poor sleeps and an experimental attempt at drinking black tea that very morning, on top of his too quickly eaten lunch and the stress of thinking we were late, all combined to bring on the first more serious tummy episode he has had in over a week. By the time we were actually supposed to be leaving for the clinic, he was sitting in a living room chair with an ice pack on his tummy, trying to convince me he could still manage to drive me to my appointment. No way was I going to ask him to do that. I left the car with him in case he needed to make an emergency trip to the hospital and flew out the front door to the bus stop with only about three minutes to spare. It was too late to walk that far.
The second series of testing was when I realized I was in trouble with all the stresses of late. I was taking a periphery test, beginning with my compromised eye. It was easy enough. I covered my other eye with a patch while staring with the test eye at a small orange dot on the screen in front of me. The technician gave me a "clicker" and told me to push the button every time any yellow dots of varying degrees of brightness appeared in my line of sight. The blasted test seemed to go on and on. I knew I was too slow reacting with the button and missed several of the yellow dots I could actually see and you know what? I realized I couldn't have cared less. NOT GOOD! I just wanted to shut my eye against that glowing orange centre dot and go to sleep. My reaction caught my own attention sufficiently to smarten me up for the same test on my other eye. When it was over I told the tech a short version of my struggles and asked if the first eye could be re-tested. She said she wasn't prepared to take the time to do that and that I would be re-tested in six months. I teared up immediately, grateful I had no more testing to do in that session because I was so teary I wouldn't have been able to see anything at all. It took every ounce of emotional strength I had to keep from actually shedding tears as I left the office for the hour in between the end of that session and the beginning of the third one.
Over my noon break at home I received an email from a very dear friend who suggested gently but firmly that I am regressing into a state of depression from all the stress going on around me with so many other family members ill and dying and far away. I didn't want to believe it, but I knew as soon as I read it that she is right. It has been over 20 years since the spectre of that horrible disease has loomed large in my life. During my teary break between sessions 2 and 3, I walked downtown to get a drink at the Cornwall Centre food fair, but couldn't face the prospect of standing in the longer than usual mid afternoon line ups to get the sugar free sodas and sparkling water that I can have. So, what did I stupidly do? Only 2 hours after my lunch? I trotted over to Zam Zam Wraps and ordered a bowl of lentil soup....absolutely fabulous...absolutely carb ridden....absolutely eaten at the wrong time of the afternoon....absolutely unnecessary!! Food soothing....o dear Lord, I will never lose the rest of the excess weight doing that!! Fear of standing in line for water because it seems too daunting...not normal!
Session three at the eye clinic was mercifully short. I walked out of the building just as my bus home left the stop and instead of not caring because at rush hour the bus comes every 15 minutes, I felt frustrated and put upon. So, rather than waiting to end up standing up in a crowded bus and hanging on for dear life to the overhead straps, I decided a 45 minute walk home would be just fine. Why not? The last warm day of the season would be a perfect day for such a walk. I had only gone about two blocks when my leg muscles started to scream with such achiness I could hardly stand up. By the time I was half way home I was in so much discomfort I contemplated sitting myself down along a streetside curb for a rest. I didn't want to look like a street person though, so I forced myself to keep going....slower and slower and slower. I started to panic at one point wondering what would happen if I just leaned against a tree for a couple of hours and waited for my husband to realize I was missing and come looking for me. So why didn't I call him to see if he was over his tummy incident and if he could give me a ride the rest of the way? Well, because when I left the house in such a frantic hurry I left my cell phone sitting on the coffee table in the living room. Aaaaargh! No cell phone when I actually needed to use it!! It is a rare occurrence that I use my phone, but how could I have been so foolish as to leave it at home yesterday of all days???? Not thinking straight. Bad!
(In the meantime my poor husband was upstairs in our suite texting me to say he was over the attack and would love to come and pick me up and where was I and why wasn't I texting him back????? Since he was upstairs he couldn't hear my phone buzzing downstairs, so by the time I arrived home he was gearing up to come looking for me!)
I didn't stop and lean against a tree in case I couldn't get mobile again, so plodded gamely onward toward home. The final confirmation to me that depression is and has been responsible for a number of physical reactions I have had in the past week came about when I crossed the last crosswalk on the way home and realized I only had one very long block remaining to get to my front door. Instantly the pain in my legs departed, my stride lengthened and all was well! INSTANTLY upon that realization the pain departed! Yeah....over twenty years ago I experienced similar types of physical reactions during an extended time of extreme life stress. As I thought about it, the old memories of that time returned. Yup, my friend is right. I am struggling to cope and it is showing up mostly in a physical muscle reaction and in a nightly lack of being able to sleep.
I talked it over with my husband when I arrived home and found him feeling so much better. He agreed with me that it is time for me to start doing some self-care. Lately I have been learning a lot about what that can entail from a younger friend who has only recently begun looking after herself after many years of serving her family, friends, work and church to the point of starting to burn out. I thought about what she has been doing lately for her own care and healing and decided it is time to pay attention to those things and put myself on a similar track, at least until all the extended family issues all around me start to resolve and some measure of peace is restored.
I am grateful to my two friends: one who wasn't afraid to point out the potential problem and another who has shown me through her own example some ways to deal with the problem. Today I dealt with the problem by cancelling my attendance at the one scheduled event in the next week that I have the option to miss. I was able to make a choice and I did. Yay me!
God is good. He may not always preserve us from trouble nor prevent us from being fully human, but he brings along support, solutions, comfort and many understanding friends in the midst of trials. It's why I follow him. He is worthy and I am grateful he is out there being his omnipotent self because I feel safe in the big picture even when the immediate seems frightening.
By after dinner last evening my husband and I had both pulled our health together long enough to attend a fun wedding shower for a couple from my church. It was a lovely evening with way too much good food, excellent fellowship and a wonderful chance to share in the joy of the couple being married. It was a lovely way to end a stressful day of medical tests and much self-examination. It felt like a reward! haha
AND I am very, very, very glad I went ahead and walked home yesterday because overnight the gale force winds arrived and brought not only a sprinkling of light snow, but plummeting temperatures. Yesterday I walked home in sunny +15C and today's high temperature will only be +1C! The sky is iron grey with clouds. No wonder our building felt like it was being battered by a tropical storm all night. A massive change of weather system was on its way. We have had it pretty easy though compared to north and centre Alberta and Saskatchewan where there has been a lot of blowing snow aalong with icy conditions closing highways there as early as yesterday afternoon while we were still basking in the warmth! GOTTA get our snow tires on in the next week or so, but another three mornings of early medical appointments await us. My husband gets his test results on Monday morning, I spend Tuesday morning at the dentist for a cleaning and a prep for a meeting with the dental surgeon and then the final session of eye examinations awaits me next Friday. I can only pray that my husband's test results do not leave us scrambling for more appointments for him next week. Aaaaaargh...so many medical appointments, so little time!!!
Time to check in with my parents and see how they are holding up in preparation for their housing meetings next week. I am praying for a miracle that somehow they can make a move together into the same facility for a price they can afford. It really will take a near miracle to make that happen, but we can ask God for what we think we need and see what he does in answer to our prayers.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Jehovah Jireh...As Usual!
Today has been a day filled with events to cause a great deal of gratitude to well up in our hearts.
My husband survived a 13 hour fast overnight and was able to have his cholesterol test this morning! Unfortunately, as is what generally happens after those tests he has been having every 3 months for the past year, 5 hours later the doctor's office called to say he has to come in for the results! Shoot...he has been trying SO hard, despite all the other digestive issues, to work on keeping the triglycerides down, but when he has only been able to eat peanut butter and honey and white bread to keep his tummy aches at bay for the past month...well....high triglycerides here we come! Sigh.... The good thing is that he can get those results on Monday at the same time he gets his ultrasound results. Might as well get all the news at once. We are so grateful for his caring and interested GP who is determined to get to the bottom of his health issues. When a person has had CFS for so many decades, it can create all manner of ongoing, confusing, hard to diagnose issues in a person's body. At least the disease has finally been assigned a "proper" medical moniker: myalgic encephalomyelitis. The name is as difficult to deal with as the disease! haha
At noon today we enjoyed very much the seniors' luncheon at my church. The roast chicken meal was excellent, the company around the table encouraging and the presentation by some missionaries to South Africa inspiring. For over an hour we were able to pull our heads out of our own medical issues and enjoy the adventures of others.
We arrived home afterward to find a cheque in the mail. It is a payment for services rendered months ago that, due to a number of good reasons, we assumed we would never receive. That it showed up today is significant, as I have dental work coming up that is not covered by insurance and thus would be problematic to pay for. The amount of the cheque is not huge, but most helpful for that.
Then after a quiet afternoon, friends from out of town dropped in for a short visit. He has been through hell with his health for the past two years and is only now starting to recover. It was good to see him so much healthier than he has been. After they left we opened a card they had given to us. Inside the card was another provision I can use for my dental work. Unbelievable! Quite some time ago now we had given them the same amount when they experienced a shocking financial debacle and today they returned the favour. We could hardly believe it! It wasn't given with the idea that it was to be repaid, but they felt led, obviously to help us out in a time of need, the extent of which they did not know. Thank you friends and thank you God. That gift will also go toward paying for my dental work. There was also a grocery certificate and wow, month end with a later than usual pension cheque delivery due to the usual date of delivery being on a weekend this month....groceries will be no problem this weekend! Wow....
The best part of receiving unexpected material provision, so much all in one day, is that it is helping us untie the knots in our stomachs over my husband's test results and over my eye problems and dental work. If God cares so much as to provide for our material needs, will he not also be with us if we have some serious health issues to deal with now? If he can walk us through insufficient earned monthly income, can he not walk with us and encourage us each day that we face other possibly frightening life events? I think that he certainly can, but the knots in my tummy have been telling me that my faith has not been as strong about these issues as it should be at this point in my life.
What an amazing reminder from the Lord through our friends: God cares about every aspect of our lives, the big issues, the mundane grocery needs. He cares about it all and is there to help.
Thank you God and friends for helping us in our journey through God's spiritual classroom.
My husband survived a 13 hour fast overnight and was able to have his cholesterol test this morning! Unfortunately, as is what generally happens after those tests he has been having every 3 months for the past year, 5 hours later the doctor's office called to say he has to come in for the results! Shoot...he has been trying SO hard, despite all the other digestive issues, to work on keeping the triglycerides down, but when he has only been able to eat peanut butter and honey and white bread to keep his tummy aches at bay for the past month...well....high triglycerides here we come! Sigh.... The good thing is that he can get those results on Monday at the same time he gets his ultrasound results. Might as well get all the news at once. We are so grateful for his caring and interested GP who is determined to get to the bottom of his health issues. When a person has had CFS for so many decades, it can create all manner of ongoing, confusing, hard to diagnose issues in a person's body. At least the disease has finally been assigned a "proper" medical moniker: myalgic encephalomyelitis. The name is as difficult to deal with as the disease! haha
At noon today we enjoyed very much the seniors' luncheon at my church. The roast chicken meal was excellent, the company around the table encouraging and the presentation by some missionaries to South Africa inspiring. For over an hour we were able to pull our heads out of our own medical issues and enjoy the adventures of others.
We arrived home afterward to find a cheque in the mail. It is a payment for services rendered months ago that, due to a number of good reasons, we assumed we would never receive. That it showed up today is significant, as I have dental work coming up that is not covered by insurance and thus would be problematic to pay for. The amount of the cheque is not huge, but most helpful for that.
Then after a quiet afternoon, friends from out of town dropped in for a short visit. He has been through hell with his health for the past two years and is only now starting to recover. It was good to see him so much healthier than he has been. After they left we opened a card they had given to us. Inside the card was another provision I can use for my dental work. Unbelievable! Quite some time ago now we had given them the same amount when they experienced a shocking financial debacle and today they returned the favour. We could hardly believe it! It wasn't given with the idea that it was to be repaid, but they felt led, obviously to help us out in a time of need, the extent of which they did not know. Thank you friends and thank you God. That gift will also go toward paying for my dental work. There was also a grocery certificate and wow, month end with a later than usual pension cheque delivery due to the usual date of delivery being on a weekend this month....groceries will be no problem this weekend! Wow....
The best part of receiving unexpected material provision, so much all in one day, is that it is helping us untie the knots in our stomachs over my husband's test results and over my eye problems and dental work. If God cares so much as to provide for our material needs, will he not also be with us if we have some serious health issues to deal with now? If he can walk us through insufficient earned monthly income, can he not walk with us and encourage us each day that we face other possibly frightening life events? I think that he certainly can, but the knots in my tummy have been telling me that my faith has not been as strong about these issues as it should be at this point in my life.
What an amazing reminder from the Lord through our friends: God cares about every aspect of our lives, the big issues, the mundane grocery needs. He cares about it all and is there to help.
Thank you God and friends for helping us in our journey through God's spiritual classroom.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Ultrasound Completed!
My husband will get his test results next Monday morning.
We both just realized neither of us made any other plans for today. haha It seems neither of us was able to think past the 8am ultrasound! Interesting how even mild stress gives both of us fuzzy brain despite both of us sleeping well last night.
My husband ended up fasting for ten hours in total. That is the first time in nearly six weeks he has been able to go more than four to five hours around the clock between meals. Amazing! He was hoping to hang on for another two hours so he could also have his past due cholesterol testing done, but couldn’t survive the extra time. He will try his 12 hour cholesterol test fast overnight tonight for tests in the morning so he can get those results on Monday as well.
My eye tests etc. begin two days from now and I will find out more about my possible dental surgery next week.
Aaaaaahhhh....life in the old age fast lane!
Had a delightful phone call a few minutes ago from the Calgary cousins. They are travelling these days to Mexico and New Mexico and a few other American states. This morning they called as they were driving out of Albuquerque on their way to Mesa Verde. Apparently the Carlsbad canyons and the night sky over the desert using telescopes are two Must See’s. Glad they are able to travel! They are having a few of our types of travel experiences: hotels with no hot water and a rental car that has only two things going for it...it is blue and the wheels go around. hahaha Yup....
So the blank canvas that comprises the rest of today is stretching out before us. Hmmmmm, what wild and wonderful things shall we fill it with? I suspect my husband will fill it with TV movies and napping!
As for moi, well, I am going to out and WALK in this glorious sunny, windless weather.
We both just realized neither of us made any other plans for today. haha It seems neither of us was able to think past the 8am ultrasound! Interesting how even mild stress gives both of us fuzzy brain despite both of us sleeping well last night.
My husband ended up fasting for ten hours in total. That is the first time in nearly six weeks he has been able to go more than four to five hours around the clock between meals. Amazing! He was hoping to hang on for another two hours so he could also have his past due cholesterol testing done, but couldn’t survive the extra time. He will try his 12 hour cholesterol test fast overnight tonight for tests in the morning so he can get those results on Monday as well.
My eye tests etc. begin two days from now and I will find out more about my possible dental surgery next week.
Aaaaaahhhh....life in the old age fast lane!
Had a delightful phone call a few minutes ago from the Calgary cousins. They are travelling these days to Mexico and New Mexico and a few other American states. This morning they called as they were driving out of Albuquerque on their way to Mesa Verde. Apparently the Carlsbad canyons and the night sky over the desert using telescopes are two Must See’s. Glad they are able to travel! They are having a few of our types of travel experiences: hotels with no hot water and a rental car that has only two things going for it...it is blue and the wheels go around. hahaha Yup....
So the blank canvas that comprises the rest of today is stretching out before us. Hmmmmm, what wild and wonderful things shall we fill it with? I suspect my husband will fill it with TV movies and napping!
As for moi, well, I am going to out and WALK in this glorious sunny, windless weather.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Lesson One: Passing Grade. Time For Lesson Two
Much of our married life has been spent learning both spiritual and practical lessons about the Lord’s ability to provide the financial and material necessities of life. While we haven’t passed the lesson with flying colours, it seems we have learned enough to move forward to the next set of lessons, these regarding trusting God to always be with us in areas relating to health.
At our age and at the age of some of our struggling extended family members, the timing makes sense. My first response to each family health issue that has arisen in the past month has been bordering on fear, definitely a touch of panic. If you have been reading my blog posts you are sadly and boringly award of that, haha.
It is now time to kick into the trust in God gear in regard to health issues now that we have grasped a better understanding of Jehovah Jireh in the area of financial provision.
In other news, our original group of four geese have returned after a glorious two month absence. However, in the two days they have been here they have not once crossed our back lawn. They are cutting the same wide swath around our place that they did when we used to go outside and chase them away. This past two days we have not even had to go outside and stand on the deck to keep them off our back lawn. They have wandered past the end of the neighbouring building, the turned toward the parking lot, waddled their way past our place behind our car, then come back out of the parking lot two doors past our place. Good imprinting! Yay goose brains!
A friend stopped in this morning for tea and a visit. She brought my husband two bottles of Rozendal vinegar to help his tummy. What a blessing of a visit.
It is sunny and sufficiently warm for me to walk to my prayer group this afternoon, I am grateful for the good weather and for these wonderful ladies!
At our age and at the age of some of our struggling extended family members, the timing makes sense. My first response to each family health issue that has arisen in the past month has been bordering on fear, definitely a touch of panic. If you have been reading my blog posts you are sadly and boringly award of that, haha.
It is now time to kick into the trust in God gear in regard to health issues now that we have grasped a better understanding of Jehovah Jireh in the area of financial provision.
In other news, our original group of four geese have returned after a glorious two month absence. However, in the two days they have been here they have not once crossed our back lawn. They are cutting the same wide swath around our place that they did when we used to go outside and chase them away. This past two days we have not even had to go outside and stand on the deck to keep them off our back lawn. They have wandered past the end of the neighbouring building, the turned toward the parking lot, waddled their way past our place behind our car, then come back out of the parking lot two doors past our place. Good imprinting! Yay goose brains!
A friend stopped in this morning for tea and a visit. She brought my husband two bottles of Rozendal vinegar to help his tummy. What a blessing of a visit.
It is sunny and sufficiently warm for me to walk to my prayer group this afternoon, I am grateful for the good weather and for these wonderful ladies!
Not A Fracture! Hallelujah!
Dad just called. He brought Mom home from the hospital at 1:30am. Thankfully she does not have a fracture, what a huge relief! She had a severe arthritis flare up, the first in nearly 30 years. Thirty years ago it was her fingers that flared, leaving her with one fairly incapacitated finger all this time. Yesterday it was her knee and down her shin that flared. Other than using her cane all the time now and taking arthritis strength painkiller until the pain and swelling ebb, there is little to be done about it. We are all just very relieved that her x-rays showed she has incredibly strong, healthy bones! Arthritis does run in her family and Mom has been fortunate to have had so much less struggle with it than other family members who were debilitated at much younger ages. I developed the condition in my hands in my early 30’s and am grateful I haven’t had more motion loss and pain than I have!
I have been awake since 2:30am, “problem solving”, various scenarios as to how I could manage to get to Calgary and back in around my own and my husband’s upcoming medical procedures. Looks like that can wait now until more of our issues are resolved here. Hopefully my parents will be able to meet soon with the home care supervisor and start the process of finding a residence placement that provides more care.
I have been awake since 2:30am, “problem solving”, various scenarios as to how I could manage to get to Calgary and back in around my own and my husband’s upcoming medical procedures. Looks like that can wait now until more of our issues are resolved here. Hopefully my parents will be able to meet soon with the home care supervisor and start the process of finding a residence placement that provides more care.
He’s Baaaaaaaaaaaaack....
Canadian Election results: Pretty Boy Floyd is back in power. Looking at the leaders and track records of other parties, combined with this no issue smear campaign that substituted for a proper platform based one, it is no wonder. Will a minority government keep PPF’s tarring of our nation in his own brand of secularism in check? It remains to be seen....
Monday, October 21, 2019
Glad Today Was So Spectacular Because This Evening Is Pretty Horrible!
So.....an hour ago I got a phone call from the night clerk at mom's and dad's facility to let me know my mother was rushed to hospital after dinner. HUGE sigh....
It appears she may have a spontaneous shin fracture. It happened this morning as she was getting out of a taxi at home after a doctor's appointment. As the day wore on the leg was so swollen and sore she could barely walk. By the time she returned to their suite from the dining room after dinner tonight she was in so much pain she admitted the level of pain was about 10 out of 10. So, the EMT's were called in and she went to the hospital by ambulance. Who knows when she will be able to come home if she has a fracture. If it requires surgery she will be out of commission for weeks.
Dad is alone, blind, frightened and has no one to come to stay with him and take care of him as most of his friends are incapable of that. He is calling the home care supervisor in the morning to request she come as soon as possible to start trying for an emergency placement in a nursing home for both him and mom...the one good thing to come out of this latest upset is that they are both realizing reality as far as their living arrangements. Unfortunately they can't be moving "tomorrow" as a place has to be found that they can afford....it will take weeks if not months to make it all happen.
Dad is sleeping fully dressed in the recliner chair tonight so that he is right by the phone, his walker right in front of him. He has to try to manage his own meds and eye drops and that will be interesting to say the least. Mom and he packed up her home coming clothes before she went to the hospital as they have both found they get faster attention if they go into emergency in their dressing gowns and pj's. She put his taxi money where he will be able to find it when he goes to get her. There isn't anyone to help in the middle of the night as they have no younger friends.
Dad asked me not to lose any sleep tonight, that they will be fine. Yeah...not lose sleep....right....like that is going to happen. I will be awake all night I am sure.
If my husband didn't have his own serious medical issues requiring tests this week I would be on my way to Calgary tomorrow. If I didn't have my own eye issues right now requiring appointments all day for the next two Fridays, I would be on my way to Calgary tomorrow.
If....if....if......sigh.....
Well, anyone who has parents who have lived into their 90's and/or have had severe health issues knows what I am going through. Thank you for your prayers for my parents. I can only trust that God will somehow manifest his presence to them in the coming days. He has been faithful to care for them throughout their lives in the midst of various crises and I am grateful that he will continue to care for them in the best way as they face the end of life as they know it.
It appears she may have a spontaneous shin fracture. It happened this morning as she was getting out of a taxi at home after a doctor's appointment. As the day wore on the leg was so swollen and sore she could barely walk. By the time she returned to their suite from the dining room after dinner tonight she was in so much pain she admitted the level of pain was about 10 out of 10. So, the EMT's were called in and she went to the hospital by ambulance. Who knows when she will be able to come home if she has a fracture. If it requires surgery she will be out of commission for weeks.
Dad is alone, blind, frightened and has no one to come to stay with him and take care of him as most of his friends are incapable of that. He is calling the home care supervisor in the morning to request she come as soon as possible to start trying for an emergency placement in a nursing home for both him and mom...the one good thing to come out of this latest upset is that they are both realizing reality as far as their living arrangements. Unfortunately they can't be moving "tomorrow" as a place has to be found that they can afford....it will take weeks if not months to make it all happen.
Dad is sleeping fully dressed in the recliner chair tonight so that he is right by the phone, his walker right in front of him. He has to try to manage his own meds and eye drops and that will be interesting to say the least. Mom and he packed up her home coming clothes before she went to the hospital as they have both found they get faster attention if they go into emergency in their dressing gowns and pj's. She put his taxi money where he will be able to find it when he goes to get her. There isn't anyone to help in the middle of the night as they have no younger friends.
Dad asked me not to lose any sleep tonight, that they will be fine. Yeah...not lose sleep....right....like that is going to happen. I will be awake all night I am sure.
If my husband didn't have his own serious medical issues requiring tests this week I would be on my way to Calgary tomorrow. If I didn't have my own eye issues right now requiring appointments all day for the next two Fridays, I would be on my way to Calgary tomorrow.
If....if....if......sigh.....
Well, anyone who has parents who have lived into their 90's and/or have had severe health issues knows what I am going through. Thank you for your prayers for my parents. I can only trust that God will somehow manifest his presence to them in the coming days. He has been faithful to care for them throughout their lives in the midst of various crises and I am grateful that he will continue to care for them in the best way as they face the end of life as they know it.
Sunshine On My Shoulder 'n' Sunshine In My Soul
The day has passed quickly. I can't believe it is nearly dinner time. After a huge luncheon, slurp, urp, burp, we are having my husband's home made soup for our evening meal.
I was on the road to the grocery store before 8:45am today. AND, so was my husband. Yup, he crawled out of bed, had a bite of breakfast and a cup of tea and was all ready to accompany me on my morning errands! Despite a disrupted sleep, as is usual now, he felt well enough to come along and suss out some particular grocery items he has been wanting. It was fun to have company!
I assumed once we arrived home he would go and lie down for an hour or two, but no, he wanted to get some repairs going on one of his computers and that kept him busy until nearly 12:30pm. Then he decided Indian food was what his hungry tummy was calling for, so off we went to DarBar, only to discover they now close on Mondays. Sigh....and I was all primed for a decent lamb rogan josh....never fear, off to India Palace buffet. They have completely renovated the outside of the building and it looks so much more appealing than previously when it was still sporting the former Melrose Place restaurant exterior. Hopefully the interior will be renovated as well in the next year or two, but the buffet was quite tasty as it always is. Unfortunately DarBar has kind of spoiled me with their noon platter combos and it wasn't as tasty eating Indian food prepared for buffet, BUT it was still decent and filling. We enjoyed our meal and our visit together.
From there it was off to the bank to pay the newly arrived phone bill and then to the computer store for my husband to pick up a few items for the repairs he started working on this morning. Although I didn't get to go on a proper walk today, I still enjoyed the sunshine streaming into the car as we drove around the city. While my husband bartered for computer parts, I relaxed in the warm rays shining through the windshield and caught up on some text messages I should have answered some time ago.
Oooh, how lovely the weather remains this week!! Tomorrow when I have my afternoon walk to my ladies' prayer meeting, the sun will still be shining apparently and the afternoon high will once again be in the mid double digits. The below zero daytime highs do not arrive until this coming Sunday, but even at that there is no snow forecast....yet.....YAY! I can still go walking until the highs are down around -10C, or when the snow and ice arrive, whichever comes first I guess. So, almost another week of being out in the sunshine, wandering hither and yon about the city. I am grateful for every single day that we have no bad winter weather. It will come soon enough and last many weeks longer than I have the patience to endure it, no doubt! hahaha
My husband has done so very well today. His tummy was the most pain free this morning that it has been in over a month and when the pain levels started to rise a couple of times today, he had a tablespoon of Rozendal green tea vinegar and some food and was fine. If the ultrasound tests and the appointment (soon we hope!) with the gastroenterologist turn up nothing concrete then we are right back where we started a year or more ago trying to find a reason for these symptoms. We went on medical searches for answers to his CFS symptoms over 30 years ago and it took nearly 15 of those years to come up with the CFS diagnosis, so it is entirely possible these symptoms are related to the CFS adrenal issues that at this point in time do not have a supported medical diagnosis.
Well, I am not going to think about that right now. I am going to go and stand on my back deck in my Mark's Comfy Robe and enjoy the late afternoon sun before it sets for the evening.
I was on the road to the grocery store before 8:45am today. AND, so was my husband. Yup, he crawled out of bed, had a bite of breakfast and a cup of tea and was all ready to accompany me on my morning errands! Despite a disrupted sleep, as is usual now, he felt well enough to come along and suss out some particular grocery items he has been wanting. It was fun to have company!
I assumed once we arrived home he would go and lie down for an hour or two, but no, he wanted to get some repairs going on one of his computers and that kept him busy until nearly 12:30pm. Then he decided Indian food was what his hungry tummy was calling for, so off we went to DarBar, only to discover they now close on Mondays. Sigh....and I was all primed for a decent lamb rogan josh....never fear, off to India Palace buffet. They have completely renovated the outside of the building and it looks so much more appealing than previously when it was still sporting the former Melrose Place restaurant exterior. Hopefully the interior will be renovated as well in the next year or two, but the buffet was quite tasty as it always is. Unfortunately DarBar has kind of spoiled me with their noon platter combos and it wasn't as tasty eating Indian food prepared for buffet, BUT it was still decent and filling. We enjoyed our meal and our visit together.
From there it was off to the bank to pay the newly arrived phone bill and then to the computer store for my husband to pick up a few items for the repairs he started working on this morning. Although I didn't get to go on a proper walk today, I still enjoyed the sunshine streaming into the car as we drove around the city. While my husband bartered for computer parts, I relaxed in the warm rays shining through the windshield and caught up on some text messages I should have answered some time ago.
Oooh, how lovely the weather remains this week!! Tomorrow when I have my afternoon walk to my ladies' prayer meeting, the sun will still be shining apparently and the afternoon high will once again be in the mid double digits. The below zero daytime highs do not arrive until this coming Sunday, but even at that there is no snow forecast....yet.....YAY! I can still go walking until the highs are down around -10C, or when the snow and ice arrive, whichever comes first I guess. So, almost another week of being out in the sunshine, wandering hither and yon about the city. I am grateful for every single day that we have no bad winter weather. It will come soon enough and last many weeks longer than I have the patience to endure it, no doubt! hahaha
My husband has done so very well today. His tummy was the most pain free this morning that it has been in over a month and when the pain levels started to rise a couple of times today, he had a tablespoon of Rozendal green tea vinegar and some food and was fine. If the ultrasound tests and the appointment (soon we hope!) with the gastroenterologist turn up nothing concrete then we are right back where we started a year or more ago trying to find a reason for these symptoms. We went on medical searches for answers to his CFS symptoms over 30 years ago and it took nearly 15 of those years to come up with the CFS diagnosis, so it is entirely possible these symptoms are related to the CFS adrenal issues that at this point in time do not have a supported medical diagnosis.
Well, I am not going to think about that right now. I am going to go and stand on my back deck in my Mark's Comfy Robe and enjoy the late afternoon sun before it sets for the evening.
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Ferreting Out Actual Facts! Not Always Easy....
Dad arrived home from respite care this morning just before lunch time. I called him tonight to see if I could find out more about his fiasco/disaster stay in the facility and got a bit better picture of what actually happened. Now that he is "safely" back at home (until the next time he falls down and mom cannot manage to pick him up) he gave us a more accurate accounting of his time away.
Apparently the first three days were actually A-OK! He got his meds on time, other than his essential eye drops, and he had good care and attention for the most part. There was a bad issue over him not receiving his meds that wasn't rectified for a couple of days that needs to be reported, but it wasn't until the last two days that things went completely off the rails....AND the food was fabulous EVERY day, so that mitigated some of his other stresses.
The final two days he was treated inexcusably and being short staffed is not a sufficient excuse for many of the issues that arose. He got none of his meds on Friday...NONE! Saturday morning he went to the nurses' desk to find out why. The nurses on staff, who had been there the day previously as well, said they had his meds, but didn't have a sheet of information as to how they were to be administered each day. Dad demanded they open the locked medicine drawers and retrieve his meds. He and mom had put each day's meds into a separate white letter envelope with the hour by hour instructions on when and how they were to be administered. You know why he still didn't get his meds? Whoever put the envelopes into the drawer had turned them over so the written info on the front was face down. Would you not think that a trained nurse would have the wherewithal, the brains, the creativity, the freaking common sense, to turn the envelopes over and look at the other side of them????!!!!??? Just writing this down I feel the anger rising dangerously from the pit of my stomach into my throat. I make a habit of not complaining about medical personnel because they have a tough job and these days are having to track too many patients, deal with insuffiencies and communication breakdowns of all kinds in every medical facility, etc., but to not give a patient his meds when they are sitting right there in his meds drawer is inexcusable. Dad said at least the nurses he confronted had the sense to be very embarrassed and to administer Saturday's meds properly for the rest of the day. However, they cannot undo any damage the lack of eye drops has done for his vision issues. Sigh.....
There were some other ridiculous things that tell me the facility was woefully ill prepared to deal with an emergency respite patient for 5 days, but overall the whole experience was not as horrrendous as dad left mom thinking it was after her visit a couple of days ago. The improper administration of his meds is the issue that will be reported in detail.
I admit I do admire him for not giving up, for not demanding that she take him home when she went to visit the other day and for having such a good attitude now about his little misadventure. He said that if nothing else, he was well fed and now he knows for certain there is one government run facility in the city he will definitely NOT agree to go to on a permanent basis. I can only pray he actually is allowed to make that choice....Mom did get some rest for 2 of the 5 days and she sounds much healthier and happier even for that bit of extra rest. She and dad have a much better idea now of how to approach getting information about their impending moves and what they should be doing about it. So, the fiasco respite experience has resulted in some good things. It wasn't all horrendous. Thank you Lord for ANY good that comes out of this for my parents.
I was up eating breakfast over an hour early this morning, timing my meals so that I could go with my husband out to Lumsden for the early sitting of the Lions Club fall supper. I walked back and forth to Sunday School, but left before church started so I could eat my lunch at 11:30am. Really, the worst struggle I have most of the time with my diabetes is on the days when I have to make special concessions on my mealtimes in order to participate in certain events, medical appointments and the like. I hated missing the church service, but I am glad I went with my husband this afternoon. Beside a fabulous roast beef meal with home made salads and desserts, I got to meet some of my husband's parishioners and other community folk. My husband has, over his years in rural ministry, become far less shy about introducing himself to complete strangers when he enters a new community and as a result, we had an excellent social time. After dinner he gave me a tour of his little church. It was built over 100 years ago and served as a country parish in the hamlet of Condie until 1925. In 1946 it was moved into the town of Lumsden and has been repaired and kept in remarkably good condition for the past 73 years! Happy to see it.
I see the colder, wetter weather looming on the immediate horizon and am feeling sad that my walking days out of doors will be coming to an end before too much longer. In the meantime I am going to do my best to be out and about every day, even in the cold temperatures, until the ice arrives to give us an icy base on the sidewalks and roads for the rest of the winter. It was cold this morning, but sunny. I enjoyed crunching fallen leaves underfoot as I waltzed along on my way to the church. I am becoming happier and happier that I was never able to sell my dress motorcycle jacket. It is so perfect for this chilly weather when winter coats are still too hot.
The class on Ezekiel went so well this morning. I always learn a lot from our professor, Dr. Kelvin Friebel. His talk and the overhead information projection sheets he uses are on the First Baptist Regina website, I think under the Learning For Life links. Next Saturday, Lord willing, my husband and I are attending his seminar on Covenant, from the Book of Deuteronomy. Sure hoping my husband is well enough to attend.
My husband is calming his stomach now, when he can't get to food immediately, with Rozendal green tea vinegar and our friend who supplies it to the local outlets is dropping us off a fresh bottle in a couple of days. I am SO grateful for that. However, if I had to I would willingly drive to his home an hour out of town to get another bottle.
This morning my husband handled the stress of heading out to work very well. He had the Bishop with him, so the chatting kept his mind off his sore tummy and there was a special food treat after the service that kept his symptoms at bay until he got home for a late lunch. He ate a decent amount of food at the Lions Club supper tonight and has had no serious problem with his stomach all evening. Thank you Jesus!
Can't believe another weekend has flown by and tomorrow it will be Monday once again! I am going early for some groceries....assuming I wake up in time. I refuse to set the alarm two days in a row and I will be setting it very early on my husband's ultrasound day this week! I hope we can both get to all our scheduled meetings this week, that the ultrasound doesn't result in an immediate call from the doctor that scuttles our plans, but we know there is an excellent chance that is what will happen, so.....
It is only a quarter past eight in the evening, but I am exhausted and am going to crawl into bed and read a book until I fall asleep. That could end up being prior to 9pm. I am still that tired despite a wonderful sleep last night.
Yawn....yup, time to go relax and read.
Apparently the first three days were actually A-OK! He got his meds on time, other than his essential eye drops, and he had good care and attention for the most part. There was a bad issue over him not receiving his meds that wasn't rectified for a couple of days that needs to be reported, but it wasn't until the last two days that things went completely off the rails....AND the food was fabulous EVERY day, so that mitigated some of his other stresses.
The final two days he was treated inexcusably and being short staffed is not a sufficient excuse for many of the issues that arose. He got none of his meds on Friday...NONE! Saturday morning he went to the nurses' desk to find out why. The nurses on staff, who had been there the day previously as well, said they had his meds, but didn't have a sheet of information as to how they were to be administered each day. Dad demanded they open the locked medicine drawers and retrieve his meds. He and mom had put each day's meds into a separate white letter envelope with the hour by hour instructions on when and how they were to be administered. You know why he still didn't get his meds? Whoever put the envelopes into the drawer had turned them over so the written info on the front was face down. Would you not think that a trained nurse would have the wherewithal, the brains, the creativity, the freaking common sense, to turn the envelopes over and look at the other side of them????!!!!??? Just writing this down I feel the anger rising dangerously from the pit of my stomach into my throat. I make a habit of not complaining about medical personnel because they have a tough job and these days are having to track too many patients, deal with insuffiencies and communication breakdowns of all kinds in every medical facility, etc., but to not give a patient his meds when they are sitting right there in his meds drawer is inexcusable. Dad said at least the nurses he confronted had the sense to be very embarrassed and to administer Saturday's meds properly for the rest of the day. However, they cannot undo any damage the lack of eye drops has done for his vision issues. Sigh.....
There were some other ridiculous things that tell me the facility was woefully ill prepared to deal with an emergency respite patient for 5 days, but overall the whole experience was not as horrrendous as dad left mom thinking it was after her visit a couple of days ago. The improper administration of his meds is the issue that will be reported in detail.
I admit I do admire him for not giving up, for not demanding that she take him home when she went to visit the other day and for having such a good attitude now about his little misadventure. He said that if nothing else, he was well fed and now he knows for certain there is one government run facility in the city he will definitely NOT agree to go to on a permanent basis. I can only pray he actually is allowed to make that choice....Mom did get some rest for 2 of the 5 days and she sounds much healthier and happier even for that bit of extra rest. She and dad have a much better idea now of how to approach getting information about their impending moves and what they should be doing about it. So, the fiasco respite experience has resulted in some good things. It wasn't all horrendous. Thank you Lord for ANY good that comes out of this for my parents.
I was up eating breakfast over an hour early this morning, timing my meals so that I could go with my husband out to Lumsden for the early sitting of the Lions Club fall supper. I walked back and forth to Sunday School, but left before church started so I could eat my lunch at 11:30am. Really, the worst struggle I have most of the time with my diabetes is on the days when I have to make special concessions on my mealtimes in order to participate in certain events, medical appointments and the like. I hated missing the church service, but I am glad I went with my husband this afternoon. Beside a fabulous roast beef meal with home made salads and desserts, I got to meet some of my husband's parishioners and other community folk. My husband has, over his years in rural ministry, become far less shy about introducing himself to complete strangers when he enters a new community and as a result, we had an excellent social time. After dinner he gave me a tour of his little church. It was built over 100 years ago and served as a country parish in the hamlet of Condie until 1925. In 1946 it was moved into the town of Lumsden and has been repaired and kept in remarkably good condition for the past 73 years! Happy to see it.
I see the colder, wetter weather looming on the immediate horizon and am feeling sad that my walking days out of doors will be coming to an end before too much longer. In the meantime I am going to do my best to be out and about every day, even in the cold temperatures, until the ice arrives to give us an icy base on the sidewalks and roads for the rest of the winter. It was cold this morning, but sunny. I enjoyed crunching fallen leaves underfoot as I waltzed along on my way to the church. I am becoming happier and happier that I was never able to sell my dress motorcycle jacket. It is so perfect for this chilly weather when winter coats are still too hot.
The class on Ezekiel went so well this morning. I always learn a lot from our professor, Dr. Kelvin Friebel. His talk and the overhead information projection sheets he uses are on the First Baptist Regina website, I think under the Learning For Life links. Next Saturday, Lord willing, my husband and I are attending his seminar on Covenant, from the Book of Deuteronomy. Sure hoping my husband is well enough to attend.
My husband is calming his stomach now, when he can't get to food immediately, with Rozendal green tea vinegar and our friend who supplies it to the local outlets is dropping us off a fresh bottle in a couple of days. I am SO grateful for that. However, if I had to I would willingly drive to his home an hour out of town to get another bottle.
This morning my husband handled the stress of heading out to work very well. He had the Bishop with him, so the chatting kept his mind off his sore tummy and there was a special food treat after the service that kept his symptoms at bay until he got home for a late lunch. He ate a decent amount of food at the Lions Club supper tonight and has had no serious problem with his stomach all evening. Thank you Jesus!
Can't believe another weekend has flown by and tomorrow it will be Monday once again! I am going early for some groceries....assuming I wake up in time. I refuse to set the alarm two days in a row and I will be setting it very early on my husband's ultrasound day this week! I hope we can both get to all our scheduled meetings this week, that the ultrasound doesn't result in an immediate call from the doctor that scuttles our plans, but we know there is an excellent chance that is what will happen, so.....
It is only a quarter past eight in the evening, but I am exhausted and am going to crawl into bed and read a book until I fall asleep. That could end up being prior to 9pm. I am still that tired despite a wonderful sleep last night.
Yawn....yup, time to go relax and read.
Friday, October 18, 2019
Thanking God Tonight For Our Son
We received a delightful phone call from our son this evening, just as we needed it most. Thank you son!!
He was brimming with good news. He has full time work next week! He is off to Long Island with his girlfriend for the weekend and will use her aunt's car once again to help her fine tune her parallel parking skills before her road test next week. She has managed all her life to utilize public transportation in the big cities where she has lived, but is finding more and more that she has to go out to "the boonies" for various jobs and needs to be able to drive. Enter my son the driving instructor with the patience of Job...just like his father who taught me how to drive properly. (that would be my son's father, not Job's father! heehee) He has solved a shipping issue for the paintings he has to ship to Vancouver for a January exhibition. For awhile it has been looking as if he would have to drop completely out of the show. Now all is well.
The best news is that his Canadian passport has all ready been returned from Ottawa. He is set up for another ten years. Hallelujah! With only one signed reference letter still outstanding for his visa renewal process, a letter he should have back before the end of this month, by Nov. 1st he will have all his paperwork ready for the lawyer to submit. That is a whole month earlier than previously expected. It should result in an answer by or before the end of next January. Hopefully the answer will be positive and he will be able to go back south to his happy home and life there.
We needed some cheery news tonight, that is for certain.
My mother called earlier on. She was able to get to the care home to visit Dad today. Thank the Lord he is going home on Sunday. As we feared would happen, the entire respite experience has been a complete fiasco. The room he is in has a spare bed that the nursing staff come in to use whenever they want to as a place to sit down, drink coffee and play music on their cell phones on their breaks. Dad has twice been awakened to loud music and a complete stranger sitting on the bed, strangers who leave their used coffee mugs sitting on his bedside table as they leave to return to work. The closet in his room is the supply closet, so staff are in and out of his room at all hours of the day and night, chatting to the other staff in the hall and generally acting as if he is not there. Today was the first day in the past three that he got his eye drops administered!! I don't even want to think about his glaucoma numbers when he goes to the eye specialist in a couple of weeks. The staff told Mom they didn't have any eye drops for him, so she went ballistic because she knew she had delivered three bottles of the stuff. As soon as she lost her temper they magically found them and Dad got his drops. I am afraid their home care nurse is going to get quite an earful about his treatment at the hands of these so-called medical professionals. I don't know if the staff resents having to add in an extra patient in respite to their normal patient load, or if they are that disorganized and confused and nasty all the time, but I can guarantee my dad will not be returning, ever, to find out. What a disaster.
Unfortunately when Dad gets upset and is bored, his mind starts inventing all kinds of "stuff" that upsets my Mom. He has decided that from now on they are going to order Meals on Wheels for daily lunches. They tried that all ready a few years ago and what a stress that is for them both. They have to be home every day between 11:00am and 12:30pm to receive their meals somewhere in that time frame. With all the medical and other appointments they both have, having to wait around every morning for their lunch does not at all work. He has also decided that they need to have their groceries delivered because he doesn't want Mom going out any more without him. She was crying when she told me that, so I flat out told her it is time she stopped catering to his selfishness and tell him ABSOLUTELY NOT! She LOVES that hour of pothering about on her own in the grocery store. I also told her that once he gets home and gets settled, all these cockamamie ideas will likely be forgotten. Right now he is angry and bitter and determined not to let Mom out of his sight for 5 minutes so he doesn't have to be alone like he has been this past few days. I wish I was there to help him calm down. I have had more success with that in recent years than I ever have before. It is likely a good thing I am not actually there because this past week I would have had to go see him every day more than once to get him calmed down, and/or I would be at war with the staff at the facility he is in this week. O dear God, please release him from this torturous existence. Mom got very little rest in his absence as there were so many chores she had to get caught up on that she can't do when he is there. She also had to go and get her 'flu' shot, go grocery shopping and I don't know what all else, BUT she slept fantastically well last night for the first time in months. I pray that after seeing Dad today she won't be too upset to sleep well again tonight.
So, now I am done venting my frustration over what Dad AND Mom have endured over the past few days.
The phone call from our son was the first conversation we have had with anyone in several days that did not revolve around either my husband's mystery illness, or the caller's cancer or someone else's cancer or other tragic suffering.
Thank you God that our son chose today to phone us. What a blessing you knew we desperately needed.
He was brimming with good news. He has full time work next week! He is off to Long Island with his girlfriend for the weekend and will use her aunt's car once again to help her fine tune her parallel parking skills before her road test next week. She has managed all her life to utilize public transportation in the big cities where she has lived, but is finding more and more that she has to go out to "the boonies" for various jobs and needs to be able to drive. Enter my son the driving instructor with the patience of Job...just like his father who taught me how to drive properly. (that would be my son's father, not Job's father! heehee) He has solved a shipping issue for the paintings he has to ship to Vancouver for a January exhibition. For awhile it has been looking as if he would have to drop completely out of the show. Now all is well.
The best news is that his Canadian passport has all ready been returned from Ottawa. He is set up for another ten years. Hallelujah! With only one signed reference letter still outstanding for his visa renewal process, a letter he should have back before the end of this month, by Nov. 1st he will have all his paperwork ready for the lawyer to submit. That is a whole month earlier than previously expected. It should result in an answer by or before the end of next January. Hopefully the answer will be positive and he will be able to go back south to his happy home and life there.
We needed some cheery news tonight, that is for certain.
My mother called earlier on. She was able to get to the care home to visit Dad today. Thank the Lord he is going home on Sunday. As we feared would happen, the entire respite experience has been a complete fiasco. The room he is in has a spare bed that the nursing staff come in to use whenever they want to as a place to sit down, drink coffee and play music on their cell phones on their breaks. Dad has twice been awakened to loud music and a complete stranger sitting on the bed, strangers who leave their used coffee mugs sitting on his bedside table as they leave to return to work. The closet in his room is the supply closet, so staff are in and out of his room at all hours of the day and night, chatting to the other staff in the hall and generally acting as if he is not there. Today was the first day in the past three that he got his eye drops administered!! I don't even want to think about his glaucoma numbers when he goes to the eye specialist in a couple of weeks. The staff told Mom they didn't have any eye drops for him, so she went ballistic because she knew she had delivered three bottles of the stuff. As soon as she lost her temper they magically found them and Dad got his drops. I am afraid their home care nurse is going to get quite an earful about his treatment at the hands of these so-called medical professionals. I don't know if the staff resents having to add in an extra patient in respite to their normal patient load, or if they are that disorganized and confused and nasty all the time, but I can guarantee my dad will not be returning, ever, to find out. What a disaster.
Unfortunately when Dad gets upset and is bored, his mind starts inventing all kinds of "stuff" that upsets my Mom. He has decided that from now on they are going to order Meals on Wheels for daily lunches. They tried that all ready a few years ago and what a stress that is for them both. They have to be home every day between 11:00am and 12:30pm to receive their meals somewhere in that time frame. With all the medical and other appointments they both have, having to wait around every morning for their lunch does not at all work. He has also decided that they need to have their groceries delivered because he doesn't want Mom going out any more without him. She was crying when she told me that, so I flat out told her it is time she stopped catering to his selfishness and tell him ABSOLUTELY NOT! She LOVES that hour of pothering about on her own in the grocery store. I also told her that once he gets home and gets settled, all these cockamamie ideas will likely be forgotten. Right now he is angry and bitter and determined not to let Mom out of his sight for 5 minutes so he doesn't have to be alone like he has been this past few days. I wish I was there to help him calm down. I have had more success with that in recent years than I ever have before. It is likely a good thing I am not actually there because this past week I would have had to go see him every day more than once to get him calmed down, and/or I would be at war with the staff at the facility he is in this week. O dear God, please release him from this torturous existence. Mom got very little rest in his absence as there were so many chores she had to get caught up on that she can't do when he is there. She also had to go and get her 'flu' shot, go grocery shopping and I don't know what all else, BUT she slept fantastically well last night for the first time in months. I pray that after seeing Dad today she won't be too upset to sleep well again tonight.
So, now I am done venting my frustration over what Dad AND Mom have endured over the past few days.
The phone call from our son was the first conversation we have had with anyone in several days that did not revolve around either my husband's mystery illness, or the caller's cancer or someone else's cancer or other tragic suffering.
Thank you God that our son chose today to phone us. What a blessing you knew we desperately needed.
A Good Start To the Day!
I was up early this morning and dressed in plenty of time to let the building maintenance folk in to check the smoke detectors and change the furnace filter etc. Since I went to bed extremely early last evening, with the lights out and me asleep by 10pm, waking up just after 6am was no problem!
After the maintenance men left I headed over to a friend's art guild autumn exhibition. It was a lot of fun. I set myself a budget and only spent two dollars more than budgeted....for a parking meter, as I hadn't realized there would be pay parking at this particular venue. Stayed within budget on the purchases....yay me! hahaha
The sun is shining so brightly and the air is warm. It is another beauty of a day. By the middle of next week we will be having snow showers and the daytime highs will no longer be in the double digits. Toward the end of next week we may be experiencing day time highs of -1C. THEN it will feel like autumn to me. Right now the great outdoors seems to be experiencing a renewal of the early summer season.
Time to do laundry I suppose. There is a ton of it for some reason. I will get my exercise trotting up and down two flights of stairs all afternoon. That is better than no exercise at all. I can sneak out for a walk to the grocery store too I suppose, if I can just think of something we need to purchase there, haha.
My husband is having what is now an average day. The symptoms begin to rise prior to breakfast, after a bit of a sleep in. As the end of each approximately 5 hour time period draws to a close the symptoms will begin again until he eats something fatty and drinks something cold. Aiiii yiiiii....he is tired in the mornings from having to eat in the middle of the night, but by afternoon he is doing quite well. So, I won't report again on his health until there is something new to say. I do hope the ultrasound next week tells the doctor something useful! I have my own tests next week...a full day of eye tests with the ophthamologist. O joy....I have to make 3 trips over to his office in the course of the day and the parking situation is dismal, so I suspect I will have to rope my husband into taking me over and dropping me off each time. The office just called to confirm my appointments.
In the midst of much uncertainty healthwise in our house, there is the wonderful cheer inducing vase of sun flowers sitting on our dining room table. Just looking at them perks me up a tremendous amount. How can a person look at sunflowers and not be cheery, right?
To end on a political note in honour of our upcoming federal election, a friend in Ontario has decided that the dopey Liberal slogan, "Choose Forward" should be changed to "Get Past It!" hahahaha I have to agree.......
After the maintenance men left I headed over to a friend's art guild autumn exhibition. It was a lot of fun. I set myself a budget and only spent two dollars more than budgeted....for a parking meter, as I hadn't realized there would be pay parking at this particular venue. Stayed within budget on the purchases....yay me! hahaha
The sun is shining so brightly and the air is warm. It is another beauty of a day. By the middle of next week we will be having snow showers and the daytime highs will no longer be in the double digits. Toward the end of next week we may be experiencing day time highs of -1C. THEN it will feel like autumn to me. Right now the great outdoors seems to be experiencing a renewal of the early summer season.
Time to do laundry I suppose. There is a ton of it for some reason. I will get my exercise trotting up and down two flights of stairs all afternoon. That is better than no exercise at all. I can sneak out for a walk to the grocery store too I suppose, if I can just think of something we need to purchase there, haha.
My husband is having what is now an average day. The symptoms begin to rise prior to breakfast, after a bit of a sleep in. As the end of each approximately 5 hour time period draws to a close the symptoms will begin again until he eats something fatty and drinks something cold. Aiiii yiiiii....he is tired in the mornings from having to eat in the middle of the night, but by afternoon he is doing quite well. So, I won't report again on his health until there is something new to say. I do hope the ultrasound next week tells the doctor something useful! I have my own tests next week...a full day of eye tests with the ophthamologist. O joy....I have to make 3 trips over to his office in the course of the day and the parking situation is dismal, so I suspect I will have to rope my husband into taking me over and dropping me off each time. The office just called to confirm my appointments.
In the midst of much uncertainty healthwise in our house, there is the wonderful cheer inducing vase of sun flowers sitting on our dining room table. Just looking at them perks me up a tremendous amount. How can a person look at sunflowers and not be cheery, right?
 |
| Photo in background by Rob Harden, Moose Jaw |
To end on a political note in honour of our upcoming federal election, a friend in Ontario has decided that the dopey Liberal slogan, "Choose Forward" should be changed to "Get Past It!" hahahaha I have to agree.......
Thursday, October 17, 2019
A More Productive Day...Well, A Busier Day At Least
We both had fairly decent sleeps last night, although my husband was up at 4am again to eat a peanut butter sandwich and have a drink of cold water. This has been going on every night for the past couple of weeks as it seems he has to eat a substantial amount of food about every 5-6 hours around the clock to keep his symptoms under control.
I left home shortly after 9am to walk downtown to do some banking and get a badly needed haircut. So much has gone on since the last one that it had been nearly 9 weeks since I had had it cut! Yikes, no wonder I couldn't do anything with it for the past couple of weeks! It feels so good again now that it is shorter and not weighing me down.
My husband picked me up afterward and we headed off to his medical appointment. We arrived more than a half hour before his scheduled appointment, expecting we would have to wait for a good hour in the crowded waiting room before the doctor would be free to see him. However, my husband barely got his rear end planted in the chair when the receptionist called his name and escorted him off to the examination room. His appointment ended at about the time it was scheduled originally to start! YAY!
The good news is that his last few tests all came back negative for other cancers and gall bladder. The bad news is that the doctor is none the wiser as to what is causing all this digestive disruption. So, next Wednesday my husband has an ultrasound at 8am. He has to fast completely for 8 hours. 8 hours overnight is not a long time, however, it will mean he cannot eat his 4am sandwich or drink the cold water he always has at that time. The only upside I can think of, assuming he has uncontrollable symptoms as a result of the fast, is that it may bode well for discovering the cause of the problem if I have to haul him into the radiology lab in the throes of a bad attack. I don't want him to have to go through that agony again, but perhaps it will mean that whatever he is suffering from will actually show up on the ultrasound! We are all ready praying about him being able to manage a full 8 hour fast!
We are also awaiting a call now from the gastroenterologist my husband's doctor has referred him to. If something shows up on the ultrasound results, perhaps it will bump my husband up higher on the waiting list!????!!
So, that's what is new there.
My husband was terribly hungry by the time he was done with the doctor. He decided he is sick to death of eating bland food at home and he was prepared to suffer the consequences of eating some mildly spiced Indian food. We went to DarBar for the first time in over a month and ordered a platter each.
O. So. Good!
My husband settled for the mild butter chicken platter and disciplined himself to only eat half of the food in case it didn't sit well in his stomach. (I was so excited to be eating in a restaurant after a month of eating my own horrible cooking at home, that I ate my entire platter full of food! EVERY LAST BITE! No regrets as I had a slice of bread with melted cheese for dinner tonight and left it at that.) After lunch we waited for a couple of hours to see what was going to happen, but the Indian meal settled beautifully and my husband ate his leftovers for dinner tonight, also without any dire consequences. YAY! What a treat for both of us!
Late this afternoon my husband realized he had a university library book due today, so I suggested we take a walk there. It is a long round trip...nearly 90 minutes at our pace, but he was up for it. Today the weather was magnificent: +18C for a high, barely a breeze and what did blow was warm, periods of sunshine in between periods of cloudy skies. So many red and yellow leaves still cover the trees along the route to the university. What a wonderful walk we had together. We arrived home just as dusk was setting in.
Tonight we have been relaxing. I was in my 'jammas by 7pm and answering emails while my husband watched some tv shows he recorded previously. My cousin phoned and we chatted and laughed for nearly an hour.
It was a good day. My husband was tired out as usual from not sleeping soundly at night, but he didn't need a nap today. He kept busy with a number of writing projects. Tomorrow we have no plans at all, which is nice. I will get up early because the property maintenance men are coming over to change the furnace filters and check the smoke detectors right around breakfast time. Perhaps it will be a good day to do laundry. If there is a chance to get out for another walk I will do that as it will be the last warm day of the season by the look of the forecast. I put the first few coats of touch up paint on some minute rust spots where gravel has damaged the paint on the front of the car, so tomorrow I will complete that process. The paint job on that vehicle is quite disappointing, but so grateful to have a touch up paint stick.
I talked to Mom today as well. She has heard nothing from Dad for 2 days now, so we both tried to call to see how he is and to at least leave a message that we are thinking of him. All our calls went straight to the voice mail of the director of the facility, so we have no idea how Dad is doing. Until that happened, Mom was very surprised she hasn't heard anything from him, but I am guessing he has no access to a telephone. They gave up their cell phone for some reason a couple of years ago, so he has no phone with him. A friend of Mom's is supposed to be taking her to visit Dad tomorrow afternoon, so I do hope that works out! Mom is worried about him now and she won't relax unless she talks to him. I am afraid this whole respite business is not working out as well as any of us hoped it would. Perhaps the friend will be bringing both Mom and Dad home tomorrow afternoon! Yikes.... On the other hand, Dad may be just fine and enjoying having a chance to meet some new folks. Hopefully the meals have been as good as the initial lunch he ate there. Guess I will have my questions answered soon enough.
I am going to bed early tonight. I want to read a few more chapters of the book we are reading for book club. It is interesting and there is a lot of good discussion in each session. It is the best book we have done since I started attending, in my opinion, although others would not agree.
Here's hoping for another good day tomorrow and for my husband's medical issues to be diagnosed and treated soon.
Hugs to everyone.
I left home shortly after 9am to walk downtown to do some banking and get a badly needed haircut. So much has gone on since the last one that it had been nearly 9 weeks since I had had it cut! Yikes, no wonder I couldn't do anything with it for the past couple of weeks! It feels so good again now that it is shorter and not weighing me down.
My husband picked me up afterward and we headed off to his medical appointment. We arrived more than a half hour before his scheduled appointment, expecting we would have to wait for a good hour in the crowded waiting room before the doctor would be free to see him. However, my husband barely got his rear end planted in the chair when the receptionist called his name and escorted him off to the examination room. His appointment ended at about the time it was scheduled originally to start! YAY!
The good news is that his last few tests all came back negative for other cancers and gall bladder. The bad news is that the doctor is none the wiser as to what is causing all this digestive disruption. So, next Wednesday my husband has an ultrasound at 8am. He has to fast completely for 8 hours. 8 hours overnight is not a long time, however, it will mean he cannot eat his 4am sandwich or drink the cold water he always has at that time. The only upside I can think of, assuming he has uncontrollable symptoms as a result of the fast, is that it may bode well for discovering the cause of the problem if I have to haul him into the radiology lab in the throes of a bad attack. I don't want him to have to go through that agony again, but perhaps it will mean that whatever he is suffering from will actually show up on the ultrasound! We are all ready praying about him being able to manage a full 8 hour fast!
We are also awaiting a call now from the gastroenterologist my husband's doctor has referred him to. If something shows up on the ultrasound results, perhaps it will bump my husband up higher on the waiting list!????!!
So, that's what is new there.
My husband was terribly hungry by the time he was done with the doctor. He decided he is sick to death of eating bland food at home and he was prepared to suffer the consequences of eating some mildly spiced Indian food. We went to DarBar for the first time in over a month and ordered a platter each.
O. So. Good!
My husband settled for the mild butter chicken platter and disciplined himself to only eat half of the food in case it didn't sit well in his stomach. (I was so excited to be eating in a restaurant after a month of eating my own horrible cooking at home, that I ate my entire platter full of food! EVERY LAST BITE! No regrets as I had a slice of bread with melted cheese for dinner tonight and left it at that.) After lunch we waited for a couple of hours to see what was going to happen, but the Indian meal settled beautifully and my husband ate his leftovers for dinner tonight, also without any dire consequences. YAY! What a treat for both of us!
Late this afternoon my husband realized he had a university library book due today, so I suggested we take a walk there. It is a long round trip...nearly 90 minutes at our pace, but he was up for it. Today the weather was magnificent: +18C for a high, barely a breeze and what did blow was warm, periods of sunshine in between periods of cloudy skies. So many red and yellow leaves still cover the trees along the route to the university. What a wonderful walk we had together. We arrived home just as dusk was setting in.
Tonight we have been relaxing. I was in my 'jammas by 7pm and answering emails while my husband watched some tv shows he recorded previously. My cousin phoned and we chatted and laughed for nearly an hour.
It was a good day. My husband was tired out as usual from not sleeping soundly at night, but he didn't need a nap today. He kept busy with a number of writing projects. Tomorrow we have no plans at all, which is nice. I will get up early because the property maintenance men are coming over to change the furnace filters and check the smoke detectors right around breakfast time. Perhaps it will be a good day to do laundry. If there is a chance to get out for another walk I will do that as it will be the last warm day of the season by the look of the forecast. I put the first few coats of touch up paint on some minute rust spots where gravel has damaged the paint on the front of the car, so tomorrow I will complete that process. The paint job on that vehicle is quite disappointing, but so grateful to have a touch up paint stick.
I talked to Mom today as well. She has heard nothing from Dad for 2 days now, so we both tried to call to see how he is and to at least leave a message that we are thinking of him. All our calls went straight to the voice mail of the director of the facility, so we have no idea how Dad is doing. Until that happened, Mom was very surprised she hasn't heard anything from him, but I am guessing he has no access to a telephone. They gave up their cell phone for some reason a couple of years ago, so he has no phone with him. A friend of Mom's is supposed to be taking her to visit Dad tomorrow afternoon, so I do hope that works out! Mom is worried about him now and she won't relax unless she talks to him. I am afraid this whole respite business is not working out as well as any of us hoped it would. Perhaps the friend will be bringing both Mom and Dad home tomorrow afternoon! Yikes.... On the other hand, Dad may be just fine and enjoying having a chance to meet some new folks. Hopefully the meals have been as good as the initial lunch he ate there. Guess I will have my questions answered soon enough.
I am going to bed early tonight. I want to read a few more chapters of the book we are reading for book club. It is interesting and there is a lot of good discussion in each session. It is the best book we have done since I started attending, in my opinion, although others would not agree.
Here's hoping for another good day tomorrow and for my husband's medical issues to be diagnosed and treated soon.
Hugs to everyone.
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Dithering.....
I should be heading out the door right this very minute to travel to Moose Jaw for a funeral, but instead I am sitting here blogging. The weather is most beautiful for driving: sunny blue skies with just a few streaks of wispy white clouds, no forecast for rain or snow or mist or fog or ice.
I should be heading out the door this very minute to travel to Moose Jaw for a funeral. Instead I am sitting here blogging. Sigh.... Tomorrow is my husband's next appointment with his doctor to schedule more tests to try to find out the root cause of his tummy ailments. This health issue has been going on now for almost a month and this week, leading up to his appointment, I feel completely paralyzed in regard to doing anything at all, apart from the most basic of necessities like the occasional grocery shopping or banking foray and tomorrow morning's haircut.
My original plan for today was to get to Moose Jaw in time to have lunch with a friend prior to attending the funeral. She is not available after all. I was going to go to the Moose Jaw art gallery after the funeral to see an exhibit by a local artist that I met a few years ago at my church when I lived and "churched" in Moose Jaw, but now I don't feel like making the effort. The idea of driving round trip for the better part of two hours to go to a half hour funeral, even for such a sweet former neighbour, when I know none of her family or other friends, well, normally the time and distance and not knowing the other attendees would not stop me from honouring her at her funeral, but today, I can't seem to face it. With no other plans I tried to make coming together and with my sudden lack of interest in going to the art gallery alone, I can't seem to make myself go out to the car and turn on the ignition to get driving down the highway. I am not usually this uninspired nor feeling so completely inert. I posted a condolence for the family on the funeral home website and am glad I did because there weren't any others posted as yet. I hope that honouring her with my words rather than my personal presence at the funeral home service will be sufficient tribute. She was a dear, dear lady.
We are supposed to be blessed with this same lovely weather for the next five days. Hope that is true. Perhaps after lunch I will be able to roust myself from behind my computer screen to walk over to the grocery store for a couple of needed items.
It didn't help today that for the first time in weeks, I actually slept in until 9am!! No, I wasn't awake for hours in the wee hours of the morning, I just had a great sleep for a change. So, that delayed breakfast by over an hour, meaning I would be craving lunch right about the time the funeral would be starting. Dilemma for Diabetics: meal juggling on days when mealtimes end up being completely off schedule right from breakfast time onward.
I am going to have left over gnocci and bison tomato sauce for lunch. It is what I served on Thanksgiving Monday evening for dinner with the Calgary Cousins. Fortunately they enjoyed it as much as they would have enjoyed a turkey dinner. Yay! Watching guests consume two and three helpings of the gnocci and the salad and demolishing the bread sticks made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. hahahaha That kind of response to one of my rather lame attempts at cooking is somewhat unusual and I am still revelling in the fact that I made something worth eating two and three helpings of. hahahaha The ground bison really makes the sauce flavourful.
My husband has been doing very well controlling his terrible tummy twinges! On Monday he too had two helpings of food for dinner...minus the salad as uncooked veggies really can set off an episode. His cousins brought us a fantastically delicious home made apple pie for dessert and my husband, who up to that point had barely been able to digest so much as a tiny sweetened cookie, ate THREE slices of that pie!! THREE! 3! He had NO negative reaction to the pie and slept pretty well all night that night.
So....we will see what the doctor says tomorrow when they go over his food and symptoms journal together. What tests will be next? I admit I am pushing for the doctor to schedule a full scope. Yes, it is invasive and he wants to complete non-invasive tests first, but I have a feeling another MRI will not solve much. I think someone needs to get that scope right down into his digestive tract and stomach and survey first hand what the problem may be. My husband needs answers. He needs a proper diagnosis and treatment plan. He has to get his energy back in order to keep his job as he is all ready 3 days behind in the time he owes his new parish. I can only hope he can find the energy to make up those days before the end of the month, which is coming up quickly!
In other news: dad went off to respite care yesterday. Fortunately a family friend was kind and generous enough to not only drive dad and mom over to the facility, but came back to transport mom home after she got things sorted out in dad's room, with the nurses who didn't seem to understand what they are supposed to do in administering dad's meds this week, and with the extremely inept folk in the office when she went to pre-pay his bill. Long story, won't bore you with the details, but trying to write a cheque for payment resulted in more craziness than I can even imagine...and I can imagine a lot of craziness! By the time it was all sorted out, dad had been taken out of his room again to the dining room. There, things went better! For lunch he was given a piping hot bowl of carrot soup, a favourite, as well as a thick seafood sandwich...another favourite he rarely gets to have. By the time our friend picked mom up and took her home again, dad was less frightened and worried. I talked to mom last night and I am not sure dad is going to last the remaining 4 days. However, my biggest fear is that he will not understand that there is a marked difference in the level of care a respite patient has in comparison to a full time resident of these facilities. I am afraid he is going to have a freak out and refuse to go into long term care by the time he gets home on Sunday. In fact, I won't be surprised if he calls mom before the remaining 4 days are over and says he is coming home, so please get a taxi and come pick him up! We will see how it goes! Sigh...one of the few times I have truly longed to be there to help because there are actually things I could have been helpful with upon dad's admittance to the facility and to keep him calm. I am glad mom called me last evening after she'd had a rest and got herself calmed down from the stress of the preparation for dad's trip and from the stress involved in admitting him. Tomorrow, if dad is still there, I will leave him a phone message at the facility to let him know we are thinking about him and hoping he is doing well there.
It is time to update our wills. We are going to delay our appointment with the lawyer until our son arrives in December as he is likely to remain listed as our executor and we want him to be refreshed as to what his duties will be when the last of the two of us has died. There are excellent handbooks available now for estate executors and we want to get one for him so he understands the legalities involved. Watching other friends go through hell together as remaining family, due to parental wills being either unclear, inadequately provisioned or even non-existant, we want to be certain that even our few possessions are dealt with quickly and properly and easily by our executor son. It has been too many years since our wills were last rewritten.
Book club is tonight. Most of the ladies I pray with on Tuesday afternoons also attend the book club. Tonight's leader is a very capable minister's wife/retired missionary to Brazil. I am looking forward to her own take on the author's descriptions of various biblical paradoxes. The discussion should be excellent. I walked a half hour to my afternoon prayer group yesterday, then walked home again. The sun was hiding behind dark clouds and it wasn't terribly warm, but there was almost no breeze and the tree leaves that are still on the trees are such beautiful colours. The birds on the lake were fun to watch, particularly the cormorants as I passed by on the bridge.
Guess I will go now and reheat the last helping of gnocci. The funeral begins in a half hour so if nothing else I can be praying for the family while they are having the memorial service. I hope I can pull myself out of this funk for the afternoon. My life really does not have to be put on hold while we wait a bit longer for a more tests for my husband's eventual diagnosis.
I should be heading out the door this very minute to travel to Moose Jaw for a funeral. Instead I am sitting here blogging. Sigh.... Tomorrow is my husband's next appointment with his doctor to schedule more tests to try to find out the root cause of his tummy ailments. This health issue has been going on now for almost a month and this week, leading up to his appointment, I feel completely paralyzed in regard to doing anything at all, apart from the most basic of necessities like the occasional grocery shopping or banking foray and tomorrow morning's haircut.
My original plan for today was to get to Moose Jaw in time to have lunch with a friend prior to attending the funeral. She is not available after all. I was going to go to the Moose Jaw art gallery after the funeral to see an exhibit by a local artist that I met a few years ago at my church when I lived and "churched" in Moose Jaw, but now I don't feel like making the effort. The idea of driving round trip for the better part of two hours to go to a half hour funeral, even for such a sweet former neighbour, when I know none of her family or other friends, well, normally the time and distance and not knowing the other attendees would not stop me from honouring her at her funeral, but today, I can't seem to face it. With no other plans I tried to make coming together and with my sudden lack of interest in going to the art gallery alone, I can't seem to make myself go out to the car and turn on the ignition to get driving down the highway. I am not usually this uninspired nor feeling so completely inert. I posted a condolence for the family on the funeral home website and am glad I did because there weren't any others posted as yet. I hope that honouring her with my words rather than my personal presence at the funeral home service will be sufficient tribute. She was a dear, dear lady.
We are supposed to be blessed with this same lovely weather for the next five days. Hope that is true. Perhaps after lunch I will be able to roust myself from behind my computer screen to walk over to the grocery store for a couple of needed items.
It didn't help today that for the first time in weeks, I actually slept in until 9am!! No, I wasn't awake for hours in the wee hours of the morning, I just had a great sleep for a change. So, that delayed breakfast by over an hour, meaning I would be craving lunch right about the time the funeral would be starting. Dilemma for Diabetics: meal juggling on days when mealtimes end up being completely off schedule right from breakfast time onward.
I am going to have left over gnocci and bison tomato sauce for lunch. It is what I served on Thanksgiving Monday evening for dinner with the Calgary Cousins. Fortunately they enjoyed it as much as they would have enjoyed a turkey dinner. Yay! Watching guests consume two and three helpings of the gnocci and the salad and demolishing the bread sticks made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. hahahaha That kind of response to one of my rather lame attempts at cooking is somewhat unusual and I am still revelling in the fact that I made something worth eating two and three helpings of. hahahaha The ground bison really makes the sauce flavourful.
My husband has been doing very well controlling his terrible tummy twinges! On Monday he too had two helpings of food for dinner...minus the salad as uncooked veggies really can set off an episode. His cousins brought us a fantastically delicious home made apple pie for dessert and my husband, who up to that point had barely been able to digest so much as a tiny sweetened cookie, ate THREE slices of that pie!! THREE! 3! He had NO negative reaction to the pie and slept pretty well all night that night.
So....we will see what the doctor says tomorrow when they go over his food and symptoms journal together. What tests will be next? I admit I am pushing for the doctor to schedule a full scope. Yes, it is invasive and he wants to complete non-invasive tests first, but I have a feeling another MRI will not solve much. I think someone needs to get that scope right down into his digestive tract and stomach and survey first hand what the problem may be. My husband needs answers. He needs a proper diagnosis and treatment plan. He has to get his energy back in order to keep his job as he is all ready 3 days behind in the time he owes his new parish. I can only hope he can find the energy to make up those days before the end of the month, which is coming up quickly!
In other news: dad went off to respite care yesterday. Fortunately a family friend was kind and generous enough to not only drive dad and mom over to the facility, but came back to transport mom home after she got things sorted out in dad's room, with the nurses who didn't seem to understand what they are supposed to do in administering dad's meds this week, and with the extremely inept folk in the office when she went to pre-pay his bill. Long story, won't bore you with the details, but trying to write a cheque for payment resulted in more craziness than I can even imagine...and I can imagine a lot of craziness! By the time it was all sorted out, dad had been taken out of his room again to the dining room. There, things went better! For lunch he was given a piping hot bowl of carrot soup, a favourite, as well as a thick seafood sandwich...another favourite he rarely gets to have. By the time our friend picked mom up and took her home again, dad was less frightened and worried. I talked to mom last night and I am not sure dad is going to last the remaining 4 days. However, my biggest fear is that he will not understand that there is a marked difference in the level of care a respite patient has in comparison to a full time resident of these facilities. I am afraid he is going to have a freak out and refuse to go into long term care by the time he gets home on Sunday. In fact, I won't be surprised if he calls mom before the remaining 4 days are over and says he is coming home, so please get a taxi and come pick him up! We will see how it goes! Sigh...one of the few times I have truly longed to be there to help because there are actually things I could have been helpful with upon dad's admittance to the facility and to keep him calm. I am glad mom called me last evening after she'd had a rest and got herself calmed down from the stress of the preparation for dad's trip and from the stress involved in admitting him. Tomorrow, if dad is still there, I will leave him a phone message at the facility to let him know we are thinking about him and hoping he is doing well there.
It is time to update our wills. We are going to delay our appointment with the lawyer until our son arrives in December as he is likely to remain listed as our executor and we want him to be refreshed as to what his duties will be when the last of the two of us has died. There are excellent handbooks available now for estate executors and we want to get one for him so he understands the legalities involved. Watching other friends go through hell together as remaining family, due to parental wills being either unclear, inadequately provisioned or even non-existant, we want to be certain that even our few possessions are dealt with quickly and properly and easily by our executor son. It has been too many years since our wills were last rewritten.
Book club is tonight. Most of the ladies I pray with on Tuesday afternoons also attend the book club. Tonight's leader is a very capable minister's wife/retired missionary to Brazil. I am looking forward to her own take on the author's descriptions of various biblical paradoxes. The discussion should be excellent. I walked a half hour to my afternoon prayer group yesterday, then walked home again. The sun was hiding behind dark clouds and it wasn't terribly warm, but there was almost no breeze and the tree leaves that are still on the trees are such beautiful colours. The birds on the lake were fun to watch, particularly the cormorants as I passed by on the bridge.
Guess I will go now and reheat the last helping of gnocci. The funeral begins in a half hour so if nothing else I can be praying for the family while they are having the memorial service. I hope I can pull myself out of this funk for the afternoon. My life really does not have to be put on hold while we wait a bit longer for a more tests for my husband's eventual diagnosis.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)