”One kind word can warm three winter months.” (Japanese Proverb)
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Friday, November 29, 2019
Another Health Consideration
This is not a diagnosis for my husband, at least not yet, but, short version, after being given some information from his medical clinic regarding symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, it is possible my husband falls into the spectrum. Interesting.....
The worst of his symptoms in recent years began after an horrendous situation arose during his first job here in Saskatchewan, before he went into full time ministry, but as he has been looking back on his life, he is coming up with a few memories of things that could have played into past health issues that seemed to have no physical basis.
Yesterday he nearly had a panic attack over a very small duty attached to his present ministry. The situation was a great big nothing, but he didn't want to face it and had a very diffcult time forcing himself to do so. Of course everything went well and there was no problem for him once he stepped out and did what he had to do. Before he did, he had the beginning of the stomach issues that made him so ill a couple of months ago, but as he forced himself to calm down and go to work, the symptoms didn't develop into any sort of episode. They dissipated quickly once he acknowledged they were there, ignored them and did what he had to do.
The more information we have about this disorder the more we are seeing some possible basis for my husband's reactions, both emotional and physical, that he has experienced at various times over the past 40 years; symptoms that can be lumped into the catchall diagnosis of CFS, which of course could still be the only problem.
Veeeeerrrry interesting.....this bears more investigation, that's for sure.
The worst of his symptoms in recent years began after an horrendous situation arose during his first job here in Saskatchewan, before he went into full time ministry, but as he has been looking back on his life, he is coming up with a few memories of things that could have played into past health issues that seemed to have no physical basis.
Yesterday he nearly had a panic attack over a very small duty attached to his present ministry. The situation was a great big nothing, but he didn't want to face it and had a very diffcult time forcing himself to do so. Of course everything went well and there was no problem for him once he stepped out and did what he had to do. Before he did, he had the beginning of the stomach issues that made him so ill a couple of months ago, but as he forced himself to calm down and go to work, the symptoms didn't develop into any sort of episode. They dissipated quickly once he acknowledged they were there, ignored them and did what he had to do.
The more information we have about this disorder the more we are seeing some possible basis for my husband's reactions, both emotional and physical, that he has experienced at various times over the past 40 years; symptoms that can be lumped into the catchall diagnosis of CFS, which of course could still be the only problem.
Veeeeerrrry interesting.....this bears more investigation, that's for sure.
Yeah....Right!
I read this today:
"The difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude. (??)
{No! It is a lot more complex than some sanctimonious quote on the internet!}"
How true, right?
"The difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude. (??)
{No! It is a lot more complex than some sanctimonious quote on the internet!}"
How true, right?
So That's What That Looks Like....Sigh.....
This morning I spent some time watching the terrorist attack on the London Bridge unfolding. I felt very sad for the people of London and particularly for those wounded, killed and otherwise scarred by the events of this terrible day. How long O Lord until your creation is delivered from this kind of evil? Give us the patience O Lord to wait and pray and hope and work for peace until we see your hand moving in restoration of the good you have promised.
For the first time in my life I saw a man actually shot by the police on a real time phone video. One of the bystanders caught the moment on his cell phone camera when the final man trying to subdue the attacker was pulled off the attacker by the police. As he ran to safety, the attacker raised his head and the policeman standing behind him shot and killed him. It was a startling moment that I couldn't look away from when it was replayed several times over the next few seconds.
Following the third or fourth airing of the entire video, some other street scenes came onto the news channel screen. Awhile later the same video of the attacker and his subduer came on again, but this time the video was stopped just before the killing happened. It replayed and replayed and replayed throughout the day, but never again did we viewers have to witness the final outcome of the attacker's last few moments on this earth. I don't know if that was a good thing or not.
Since there would be children watching tv and likely coming across the video coverage at various times during the day, I suppose it is best that the video was cut off before the shooting of the attacker, but wow....seeing that made the seriousness of the entire situation much more real to me than simply seeing rows of police cars and police tape near the scene of the attack, or seeing the hordes of Black Friday shoppers being detoured around the area where the attacks took place. Seeing one of the people involved at the exact moment his life ended got me thinking more about this sort of evil than I have in a long. The only other time I felt this much horror about reality was when I watched the video footage of the destruction of New York City's Twin Towers in September of 2011.
Personally I think it was a good thing for me to see what happened to the London Bridge attacker. It makes him real to me, even more real than the victims he injured and killed because I didn't see them. I feel sick about what happened to them, but I don't have an image in my mind that will remind me to pray for them the way I have the image of the dead attacker meeting his fate. That is the image that will stick in my brain and bring the victims to mind for prayer.
It is so easy to live in a bubble and, for the sake of sanity and peace, ignore the realities that we don't have pushed into our own faces each day the way people in too many other countries have evil realities brought to their attention by the hour.
I am grateful that one day the Lord will return and set things to right. In the meantime Christians have an incredible responsibility to pray for healing, restoration and an end to evil violence, lending a hand to bring peace wherever we are. That was brought home to me again today very strongly!
For the first time in my life I saw a man actually shot by the police on a real time phone video. One of the bystanders caught the moment on his cell phone camera when the final man trying to subdue the attacker was pulled off the attacker by the police. As he ran to safety, the attacker raised his head and the policeman standing behind him shot and killed him. It was a startling moment that I couldn't look away from when it was replayed several times over the next few seconds.
Following the third or fourth airing of the entire video, some other street scenes came onto the news channel screen. Awhile later the same video of the attacker and his subduer came on again, but this time the video was stopped just before the killing happened. It replayed and replayed and replayed throughout the day, but never again did we viewers have to witness the final outcome of the attacker's last few moments on this earth. I don't know if that was a good thing or not.
Since there would be children watching tv and likely coming across the video coverage at various times during the day, I suppose it is best that the video was cut off before the shooting of the attacker, but wow....seeing that made the seriousness of the entire situation much more real to me than simply seeing rows of police cars and police tape near the scene of the attack, or seeing the hordes of Black Friday shoppers being detoured around the area where the attacks took place. Seeing one of the people involved at the exact moment his life ended got me thinking more about this sort of evil than I have in a long. The only other time I felt this much horror about reality was when I watched the video footage of the destruction of New York City's Twin Towers in September of 2011.
Personally I think it was a good thing for me to see what happened to the London Bridge attacker. It makes him real to me, even more real than the victims he injured and killed because I didn't see them. I feel sick about what happened to them, but I don't have an image in my mind that will remind me to pray for them the way I have the image of the dead attacker meeting his fate. That is the image that will stick in my brain and bring the victims to mind for prayer.
It is so easy to live in a bubble and, for the sake of sanity and peace, ignore the realities that we don't have pushed into our own faces each day the way people in too many other countries have evil realities brought to their attention by the hour.
I am grateful that one day the Lord will return and set things to right. In the meantime Christians have an incredible responsibility to pray for healing, restoration and an end to evil violence, lending a hand to bring peace wherever we are. That was brought home to me again today very strongly!
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Some Things NEVER Change!
My husband has been awarded the assignment of "camp cook" on nearly every outdoor excursion he has ever been on. I found some photos tonight attesting to that fact! haha Cooking for friends in the outdoors makes him happy.
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| Heading for the Bugaboos via Black Rock Mountain circa 1980 |
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| Canoeing on the Churchill River System in 2017 |
Would That Every Day Could Organize Itself the Way This One Has!
What a great day!! If every day wound up like this one has, wow, life would be wonderfully stress free and rewarding! hahaha
We got to bed very late last night as we were too hyper from some of the day's events to sleep, but we managed to get nearly 8 consecutive hours before it was time to start the day. We had a lazy morning of answering emails, sitting at the computers in our pj's, sipping tea. It was a lovely start to the day. At 11am we got ourselved "gussied up" and headed off to the seniors' luncheon at my church. That was fun. The speaker was excellent, one of our new pastoral assistants who has had a very interesting life since being called to ministry at the age of 18. I have to admit, we are considering skipping the meal portion of these events when they start up again in the new year. The food just isn't very good. No offense to the person who works so hard preparing it for us and most of the diners are quite happy with it, but o my....it just isn't our style I guess. It is prairie food at its most dismal and we felt so ripped off today by having to pay so much for it. The price is not high, it is just far too high for us to have to spend for food we can hardly stand to eat. However, the quality of the fellowship more than made up for the quality of the food. Also, the Jamaican women who sat at our table sneaked their bottles of habanero hot sauce out of their purses and slipped them across the table to us so we could perk up our turkey loaf and soggy diced beets. God bless the Jamaican women!!!!!!
My husband dropped me off at home afterward and headed out of town to spend the afternoon and evening participating in the environmental lectures and community events in his parish. He just texted me to say he had a good meal at one of the local restaurants he has been hoping to try there, so he certainly got over the disappointment of his lunch!
I wasn't sure how to spend my time after my husband left for work. I sat around thinking about it for awhile and decided it would be fun to get a head start on the housecleaning I am supposed to be working at tomorrow and the next day. What a treat to be able to do housework with the opportunity to be all alone in the suite for several hours. I cleaned away for a couple of hours and realized I had cleaned the entire upstairs rather well by the time I had to eat my dinner. After dinner I felt a resurgence of energy, so toddled back upstairs and cleaned the bathroom fixtures, washed the floor, vacummed and dusted through the stairwell down to the living room and then had to speak harshly to myself to stop there and leave the rest for tomorrow! How I wish I could start housework at 3pm every time it needs to be done and just keep cleaning until sometime into the evening like I did today. I can go to sleep tonight knowing I accomplished something worthwhile after a relaxing morning and some visiting with friends over a meal mid day.
There is a bad snowstorm happening at the moment. It began two hours ago and while the stormy elements like heavy snow and strong winds are abating, my husband is going to be stuck driving home through the residual snow showers, drifts and icy patches on the highway. Yuck! I am praying rather a lot in the back of my mind for his safe return. I am very grateful now that his evening meeting back in his parish tomorrow evening has been rescheduled until next week. That leaves him free to attend a diocesan meeting here in town that he also had to be at...talk about an inconvenient double booking, so he is relieved he can be at the diocesan meeting without leaving his parish in the lurch, or being at his parish meeting and ticking off the bishop and his colleagues here in town! hahaha Me? I am just ecstatic he will not have to be out sliding around on the highway now until Sunday morning, by which time most of the drifts and ice should be melted off in the absence of any more snowfall or freezing rain.
I should go now and start preparing for my part in leading the next book club meeting in two weeks, but I think I will instead put the tv on and watch an hour or two of frightening newscasts about all the terrible things that happened in our world today, or find a nature show about animals to keep me calm, or some junky something-or-other to keep my mind from having to think too hard. hahaha Maybe I will just stand outside on the back deck in my parka and boots and enjoy the snowfall!
We got to bed very late last night as we were too hyper from some of the day's events to sleep, but we managed to get nearly 8 consecutive hours before it was time to start the day. We had a lazy morning of answering emails, sitting at the computers in our pj's, sipping tea. It was a lovely start to the day. At 11am we got ourselved "gussied up" and headed off to the seniors' luncheon at my church. That was fun. The speaker was excellent, one of our new pastoral assistants who has had a very interesting life since being called to ministry at the age of 18. I have to admit, we are considering skipping the meal portion of these events when they start up again in the new year. The food just isn't very good. No offense to the person who works so hard preparing it for us and most of the diners are quite happy with it, but o my....it just isn't our style I guess. It is prairie food at its most dismal and we felt so ripped off today by having to pay so much for it. The price is not high, it is just far too high for us to have to spend for food we can hardly stand to eat. However, the quality of the fellowship more than made up for the quality of the food. Also, the Jamaican women who sat at our table sneaked their bottles of habanero hot sauce out of their purses and slipped them across the table to us so we could perk up our turkey loaf and soggy diced beets. God bless the Jamaican women!!!!!!
My husband dropped me off at home afterward and headed out of town to spend the afternoon and evening participating in the environmental lectures and community events in his parish. He just texted me to say he had a good meal at one of the local restaurants he has been hoping to try there, so he certainly got over the disappointment of his lunch!
I wasn't sure how to spend my time after my husband left for work. I sat around thinking about it for awhile and decided it would be fun to get a head start on the housecleaning I am supposed to be working at tomorrow and the next day. What a treat to be able to do housework with the opportunity to be all alone in the suite for several hours. I cleaned away for a couple of hours and realized I had cleaned the entire upstairs rather well by the time I had to eat my dinner. After dinner I felt a resurgence of energy, so toddled back upstairs and cleaned the bathroom fixtures, washed the floor, vacummed and dusted through the stairwell down to the living room and then had to speak harshly to myself to stop there and leave the rest for tomorrow! How I wish I could start housework at 3pm every time it needs to be done and just keep cleaning until sometime into the evening like I did today. I can go to sleep tonight knowing I accomplished something worthwhile after a relaxing morning and some visiting with friends over a meal mid day.
There is a bad snowstorm happening at the moment. It began two hours ago and while the stormy elements like heavy snow and strong winds are abating, my husband is going to be stuck driving home through the residual snow showers, drifts and icy patches on the highway. Yuck! I am praying rather a lot in the back of my mind for his safe return. I am very grateful now that his evening meeting back in his parish tomorrow evening has been rescheduled until next week. That leaves him free to attend a diocesan meeting here in town that he also had to be at...talk about an inconvenient double booking, so he is relieved he can be at the diocesan meeting without leaving his parish in the lurch, or being at his parish meeting and ticking off the bishop and his colleagues here in town! hahaha Me? I am just ecstatic he will not have to be out sliding around on the highway now until Sunday morning, by which time most of the drifts and ice should be melted off in the absence of any more snowfall or freezing rain.
I should go now and start preparing for my part in leading the next book club meeting in two weeks, but I think I will instead put the tv on and watch an hour or two of frightening newscasts about all the terrible things that happened in our world today, or find a nature show about animals to keep me calm, or some junky something-or-other to keep my mind from having to think too hard. hahaha Maybe I will just stand outside on the back deck in my parka and boots and enjoy the snowfall!
Overcoming the Fear of the Great Outdoors!
Forcing myself to go outside to shop and run errands, despite the icy streets, has been a good boost to my confidence that if I move slowly and deliberately enough as I walk on icy pavement, I will be okay.
Today though I did stay home to do the ironing and other housework. I also had a wonderful visit with Kat. She came over for an hour or so and we laughed ourselves nearly sick recounting silly things we have done in our lives "to get the laugh" in a group of people...pranks of all kinds. After awhile my husband joined us and told his own stories of younger days and all the hilarity of going for the laugh in public places. By the time he was finished all three of us had uncontrollable giggles! Crazy people, all three of us!
Tonight my husband coated some basa fish with a good thick layer of herbs and panko and I prepared a huge pot of broccoli. How delicious they both were. My husband added some grilled lemon slices and mushrooms to his meal and I had some yogurt with peanut butter. I wanted to keep my carbs down because I knew that less than 30 minutes after dinner I would be at my book club meeting, eating our hostess's homemade, incredible cinnamon buns and wanted to save my evening carb count so I could have one. Instead of a lot of melted sugar "goo", her cinnamon buns are brushed with a bit of butter and cinnamon before being rolled for the oven, then once they are baked she drizzles a teensy bit of white boiled icing over each one...just enough to make you crave more of it, but sufficient to really enjoy each mouthful that contains a few drops of it. So, they are not too sweet, nor are they thick, dense, chewy blobs of dough. They are small, light and packed with cinnamon deliciousness.
Since I had to walk and drive on so much glare ice, in the pitch darkness, to get to the book club meeting, I took my cane for balance, turned on the back porch light to assist my vision as I crossed the bumpy, icy lawn to the parking lot and took my sweet time walking to the car. All was well. Usually I try to park on the crowded street, as near to our hostess' house as I can get because of the severity of the ice ALL WINTER in her crescent where the big trees block all attempts by the sunshine to infiltrate the area. However, this evening there was little street parking still available within safe walking distance. What to do? The driveway at our hostess' house is kind of long and narrow and generally we all keep it free for two of the even older women who have difficult mobility issues. Tonight, I spec'd out the length of that driveway and decided that if I pulled my vehicle up tight to the garage door, there would still be room for two more vehicles behind me. Tonight I realized it is time to acknowledge my own physical fragility and start parking in the undesignated "handicapped zone" of my friends' driveway. Time to take my place there along with the others. I have the most fragile bones of anyone in the group and there is ice everywhere so I have to stop being "noble" and start fighting for my place in the pecking order of seniors with disabilities! It was a difficult decision, but as I looked at all the glassy ice I would have to walk on if I parked farther away from the house, I realized I had to park on that clear, bare driveway for the sake of my own safety. Sigh.....
The study ran twice as long as usual tonight as we are trying to complete the present book before the Christmas break so we can start a new one in January. The meeting two weeks from now will also be extra long for the same reason. Another woman and I will be co-leading that study on Lament. I am looking forward to working with another person on this as I haven't had a lot of opportunity for team ministry for a long time now.
Apparently some kind of weather "bomb" is hitting Central and Eastern Canada over this next few days. To the west of us there is a great deal of snow coming down. So far we are not under similar weather warnings here, but I will be interested to see if that changes by the morning. My husband has several trips to his out of town parish that need to be made over the next four days, so I pray he will be safe and that the highways won't have to be closed for severe weather.
Our son emailed us tonight to let us know he received the American Thanksgiving card we sent him. He is spending the weekend with his girlfriend, eating a special dinner and meeting quite a few of her family members for the first time. The man is a basket case of nerves...he is on the way to 40 years of age, but meeting "The FAMILY" still unnerves him. hahaha He purchased tickets to Handel's Messiah being performed in early December at St. Thomas Cathedral. I am not sure he will enjoy that piece of music any more than I do, but he will be fascinated by the architecture and appointing of the church.
Tomorrow is a senior's luncheon at church and I am looking forward to hearing the guest speaker, our most recently hired new associate minister. I think my husband will be able to attend before he heads out to his parish for the rest of the day and evening. Should be fun. I will come home and start getting organized for a couple of days worth of house cleaning. Two more serious cleans before our son arrives, and yes, there are spot cleans in between for those of you who are adding up how many times per week I clean the house thoroughly! Puleeeeeze........
Nearly midnight...time for another good nght of deep sleep!
Today though I did stay home to do the ironing and other housework. I also had a wonderful visit with Kat. She came over for an hour or so and we laughed ourselves nearly sick recounting silly things we have done in our lives "to get the laugh" in a group of people...pranks of all kinds. After awhile my husband joined us and told his own stories of younger days and all the hilarity of going for the laugh in public places. By the time he was finished all three of us had uncontrollable giggles! Crazy people, all three of us!
Tonight my husband coated some basa fish with a good thick layer of herbs and panko and I prepared a huge pot of broccoli. How delicious they both were. My husband added some grilled lemon slices and mushrooms to his meal and I had some yogurt with peanut butter. I wanted to keep my carbs down because I knew that less than 30 minutes after dinner I would be at my book club meeting, eating our hostess's homemade, incredible cinnamon buns and wanted to save my evening carb count so I could have one. Instead of a lot of melted sugar "goo", her cinnamon buns are brushed with a bit of butter and cinnamon before being rolled for the oven, then once they are baked she drizzles a teensy bit of white boiled icing over each one...just enough to make you crave more of it, but sufficient to really enjoy each mouthful that contains a few drops of it. So, they are not too sweet, nor are they thick, dense, chewy blobs of dough. They are small, light and packed with cinnamon deliciousness.
Since I had to walk and drive on so much glare ice, in the pitch darkness, to get to the book club meeting, I took my cane for balance, turned on the back porch light to assist my vision as I crossed the bumpy, icy lawn to the parking lot and took my sweet time walking to the car. All was well. Usually I try to park on the crowded street, as near to our hostess' house as I can get because of the severity of the ice ALL WINTER in her crescent where the big trees block all attempts by the sunshine to infiltrate the area. However, this evening there was little street parking still available within safe walking distance. What to do? The driveway at our hostess' house is kind of long and narrow and generally we all keep it free for two of the even older women who have difficult mobility issues. Tonight, I spec'd out the length of that driveway and decided that if I pulled my vehicle up tight to the garage door, there would still be room for two more vehicles behind me. Tonight I realized it is time to acknowledge my own physical fragility and start parking in the undesignated "handicapped zone" of my friends' driveway. Time to take my place there along with the others. I have the most fragile bones of anyone in the group and there is ice everywhere so I have to stop being "noble" and start fighting for my place in the pecking order of seniors with disabilities! It was a difficult decision, but as I looked at all the glassy ice I would have to walk on if I parked farther away from the house, I realized I had to park on that clear, bare driveway for the sake of my own safety. Sigh.....
The study ran twice as long as usual tonight as we are trying to complete the present book before the Christmas break so we can start a new one in January. The meeting two weeks from now will also be extra long for the same reason. Another woman and I will be co-leading that study on Lament. I am looking forward to working with another person on this as I haven't had a lot of opportunity for team ministry for a long time now.
Apparently some kind of weather "bomb" is hitting Central and Eastern Canada over this next few days. To the west of us there is a great deal of snow coming down. So far we are not under similar weather warnings here, but I will be interested to see if that changes by the morning. My husband has several trips to his out of town parish that need to be made over the next four days, so I pray he will be safe and that the highways won't have to be closed for severe weather.
Our son emailed us tonight to let us know he received the American Thanksgiving card we sent him. He is spending the weekend with his girlfriend, eating a special dinner and meeting quite a few of her family members for the first time. The man is a basket case of nerves...he is on the way to 40 years of age, but meeting "The FAMILY" still unnerves him. hahaha He purchased tickets to Handel's Messiah being performed in early December at St. Thomas Cathedral. I am not sure he will enjoy that piece of music any more than I do, but he will be fascinated by the architecture and appointing of the church.
Tomorrow is a senior's luncheon at church and I am looking forward to hearing the guest speaker, our most recently hired new associate minister. I think my husband will be able to attend before he heads out to his parish for the rest of the day and evening. Should be fun. I will come home and start getting organized for a couple of days worth of house cleaning. Two more serious cleans before our son arrives, and yes, there are spot cleans in between for those of you who are adding up how many times per week I clean the house thoroughly! Puleeeeeze........
Nearly midnight...time for another good nght of deep sleep!
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Well Hey, It's New To ME!!
We came home from shopping this morning to find the plumber hard at work replacing the leaking tap set for our kitchen sink and sealing a leak in the dishwasher hose. He did a great job of both. We are now the proud users of what is, to us, wonderful new "technology" with our new tap set! While others who are home owners, or at least renting non-dive suites and houses, have moved on to even newer types of tap systems, we are just thrilled to finally have one that is newer than the old separate turn taps for hot and cold water. Remember the sets with a big red marked knob on one side of the faucet to indicate it was for hot water and a blue marked knob on the other side of the faucet to indicate it was for cold water? Yup, we have been dealing with those sets for years now through our seemingly never ending series of rental units, rectories and the like.
Today however we have graduated into at least the 1990's! We have now a high arching single faucet/tap unit, shiny silver plated...BRAND spanking new too, not some leftover remnant tap set from an equally ancient suite that was left sitting for years in the maintenance shed. The tap is a handle on the side that pushes up and over for hot water, down and over for cold water!
Oooh la la! Luxury!!
This one has the button on the side of the faucet to change the flow of water from a single flow to a spray and back again, the moveable sprayer that pulls straight down from the faucet opening instead of being a separate hose over on the side of the sink top...o yes, only the almost latest and greatest for this pair of renters!!
I admit it, I am thoroughly delighted. The term "simple pleasures for simple minds" has never been so applicable!
The ice on the streets in our neighbourhood are curling rink quality slipperyness!! My husband walked the six blocks to his prayer meeting at 7:30am, leaving me strict instructions that I was NOT for any reason to attempt to go shopping and banking until he returned and could go with me to keep me propped up when walking on icy parking lots! I admit I am SO grateful he was able to accompany me. Talk about treacherous walking!! Aiii yiiiii..... Even hanging onto him, I was still scared of falling. We survived, both of us, landing home after our excursion still upright, unscathed, the car quite happy to have been driven at the speed of 15-20km per hour for a lot of the driving about. Gadzooks it is icy out there away from the most high traffic areas.
My husband found his teensy weensy work pension had been deposited in the bank this morning, so he splurged and took me out to Lancaster Taphouse for lunch, since we were in the area for the last of our chores. Silly man, as if we needed to eat out again so soon, BUT he wants to keep me cheery while I await this biopsy and he is so afraid I will get depressed again while I am waiting another nearly 3 weeks for it. I am not intending to be the least bit depressed and it seems it is actually himself who is the most frightened about my test results, but if that means any more meals as delicious as my small plate surf and turf was today, well darlin', worry away!!! hahahahahaha I put my foot down though after lunch and said I would rather not eat out again for a couple of weeks, until our son arrives. The son is quite happy to eat most meals here at home anyway as he loves to cook and show off his skills. Yum!
Prayer meeting this afternoon went very well. The wee mousie that is still on the loose in our host's home did not make any public appearances this time so I admit we were all glad of that, particularly our embarrassed host who has not been able to trap the wylie little creature despite his best attempts to do so. I was touched to the core by the prayer our host prayed for my son in regard to the hold up on my son's visa renewal. We gather to pray specifically for the needs of our church and for the world at large, not for our own family requests as that is not the purpose of this particular group. My husband's prayer group in the morning spent a considerable time praying for our son as well. He is being bathed in prayer by an ever growing group of middle aged and elderly prayer warriors around here. He is so thrilled that people care so much for him when most of them have not even met him.
We spent the evening washing out the cupboard under the sink and rearranging the various dish soaps, pot scrubbers, cleaning products, garbage collectors and old rags that reside there. The plumber is so nice: we had no idea he was coming today and left this morning in a bit of a hurry, not bothering to clean out the spaces under and around the sink. He had to haul everything out to create a work space for himself. Blush...usually I am more considerate of and prepared for tradesmen to do their work. To add to my embarrassment, after asking him to just leave everything out of those spaces after he was done, as it was bad enough he had to move it all out of his way in the first place, he put absolutely everything back where it belongs! That must have taken him almost as long as it took him to do the work on the taps and hoses!! Unfortunately, tonight we noticed that my favourite black tea towel that had been hanging on the rod by the sink has disappeared. I suspect it fell off the rod when he was moving things around and he ended up grabbing it up with the rest of his work equipment...either that or he had to use it to wipe up some kind of disgusting mess and didn't want me to see it. hahahaha It is no big deal as I have a whole drawer filled with tea towels, but my husband and I certainly spent a long time tearing the kitchen apart looking for it. In hopes that we are not losing our minds, we have decided the towel really has disappeared at the hands of the plumber! hahahaha
I have apparently developed a reaction to bleach! Mild bleach poisoning from over exposure? Some kind of allergy? Aiii yiiii.... In the past 3 weeks my husband has twice put bleach into some of his white tea cups and covering his tea strainers to remove all the ugly tea stains. I felt kind of dizzy and nauseated the first time, so to see if it was from the bleach he covered the soaking cups and strainers with lids that sealed off the odor. I felt fine within a matter of minutes. After our kitchen restoration project this evening I sat down to watch tv for awhile and didn't realize he had placed another uncovered, bleach filled mug into the kitchen sink. About ten minutes into my programme I realized I was getting dizzy and nauseous, so I toddled into the kitchen to get a glass of cold water and discovered his bleaching project. I called him to come and empty out the bleach water as the stains in the cup had disappeared. Within about fifteen minutes I felt fine again. So...guess we will be ridding our house of our two bottles of bleach! Yikes! My husband felt so badly for forgetting to cover everything with a lid again.
Off to bed early tonight. My husband may have another early morning meeting tomorrow and I want to be up too, prepared for the phone call from our lawyer about our new wills. We are going to have a phone discussion prior to our appointment. This is good. Tomorrow will be a stay off the ice and do the ironing kind of day! I did a lot of laundry this afternoon and am looking forward to not having to go anywhere tomorrow. Aaaaaah, a good day at home before the next round of visits and meetings begins!
Today however we have graduated into at least the 1990's! We have now a high arching single faucet/tap unit, shiny silver plated...BRAND spanking new too, not some leftover remnant tap set from an equally ancient suite that was left sitting for years in the maintenance shed. The tap is a handle on the side that pushes up and over for hot water, down and over for cold water!
Oooh la la! Luxury!!
This one has the button on the side of the faucet to change the flow of water from a single flow to a spray and back again, the moveable sprayer that pulls straight down from the faucet opening instead of being a separate hose over on the side of the sink top...o yes, only the almost latest and greatest for this pair of renters!!
I admit it, I am thoroughly delighted. The term "simple pleasures for simple minds" has never been so applicable!
The ice on the streets in our neighbourhood are curling rink quality slipperyness!! My husband walked the six blocks to his prayer meeting at 7:30am, leaving me strict instructions that I was NOT for any reason to attempt to go shopping and banking until he returned and could go with me to keep me propped up when walking on icy parking lots! I admit I am SO grateful he was able to accompany me. Talk about treacherous walking!! Aiii yiiiii..... Even hanging onto him, I was still scared of falling. We survived, both of us, landing home after our excursion still upright, unscathed, the car quite happy to have been driven at the speed of 15-20km per hour for a lot of the driving about. Gadzooks it is icy out there away from the most high traffic areas.
My husband found his teensy weensy work pension had been deposited in the bank this morning, so he splurged and took me out to Lancaster Taphouse for lunch, since we were in the area for the last of our chores. Silly man, as if we needed to eat out again so soon, BUT he wants to keep me cheery while I await this biopsy and he is so afraid I will get depressed again while I am waiting another nearly 3 weeks for it. I am not intending to be the least bit depressed and it seems it is actually himself who is the most frightened about my test results, but if that means any more meals as delicious as my small plate surf and turf was today, well darlin', worry away!!! hahahahahaha I put my foot down though after lunch and said I would rather not eat out again for a couple of weeks, until our son arrives. The son is quite happy to eat most meals here at home anyway as he loves to cook and show off his skills. Yum!
Prayer meeting this afternoon went very well. The wee mousie that is still on the loose in our host's home did not make any public appearances this time so I admit we were all glad of that, particularly our embarrassed host who has not been able to trap the wylie little creature despite his best attempts to do so. I was touched to the core by the prayer our host prayed for my son in regard to the hold up on my son's visa renewal. We gather to pray specifically for the needs of our church and for the world at large, not for our own family requests as that is not the purpose of this particular group. My husband's prayer group in the morning spent a considerable time praying for our son as well. He is being bathed in prayer by an ever growing group of middle aged and elderly prayer warriors around here. He is so thrilled that people care so much for him when most of them have not even met him.
We spent the evening washing out the cupboard under the sink and rearranging the various dish soaps, pot scrubbers, cleaning products, garbage collectors and old rags that reside there. The plumber is so nice: we had no idea he was coming today and left this morning in a bit of a hurry, not bothering to clean out the spaces under and around the sink. He had to haul everything out to create a work space for himself. Blush...usually I am more considerate of and prepared for tradesmen to do their work. To add to my embarrassment, after asking him to just leave everything out of those spaces after he was done, as it was bad enough he had to move it all out of his way in the first place, he put absolutely everything back where it belongs! That must have taken him almost as long as it took him to do the work on the taps and hoses!! Unfortunately, tonight we noticed that my favourite black tea towel that had been hanging on the rod by the sink has disappeared. I suspect it fell off the rod when he was moving things around and he ended up grabbing it up with the rest of his work equipment...either that or he had to use it to wipe up some kind of disgusting mess and didn't want me to see it. hahahaha It is no big deal as I have a whole drawer filled with tea towels, but my husband and I certainly spent a long time tearing the kitchen apart looking for it. In hopes that we are not losing our minds, we have decided the towel really has disappeared at the hands of the plumber! hahahaha
I have apparently developed a reaction to bleach! Mild bleach poisoning from over exposure? Some kind of allergy? Aiii yiiii.... In the past 3 weeks my husband has twice put bleach into some of his white tea cups and covering his tea strainers to remove all the ugly tea stains. I felt kind of dizzy and nauseated the first time, so to see if it was from the bleach he covered the soaking cups and strainers with lids that sealed off the odor. I felt fine within a matter of minutes. After our kitchen restoration project this evening I sat down to watch tv for awhile and didn't realize he had placed another uncovered, bleach filled mug into the kitchen sink. About ten minutes into my programme I realized I was getting dizzy and nauseous, so I toddled into the kitchen to get a glass of cold water and discovered his bleaching project. I called him to come and empty out the bleach water as the stains in the cup had disappeared. Within about fifteen minutes I felt fine again. So...guess we will be ridding our house of our two bottles of bleach! Yikes! My husband felt so badly for forgetting to cover everything with a lid again.
Off to bed early tonight. My husband may have another early morning meeting tomorrow and I want to be up too, prepared for the phone call from our lawyer about our new wills. We are going to have a phone discussion prior to our appointment. This is good. Tomorrow will be a stay off the ice and do the ironing kind of day! I did a lot of laundry this afternoon and am looking forward to not having to go anywhere tomorrow. Aaaaaah, a good day at home before the next round of visits and meetings begins!
Monday, November 25, 2019
Help For Dad
Mom and Dad called me tonight to tell me about their final meeting with the "powers that be" about Dad's living situation. Short version is that even though it is going to cost more than my parents can afford for very long, he has agreed to go into long term care. Whew! I am so relieved and it is possible he will be moving by Christmas.
Dad is terrified of moving because of his near blindness, but he has been honest enough to tell the home care nurse and other workers about his fears and they are working with him to try to calm him. He and I worked through some of those issues on the phone tonight and I hope he is able to remember by tomorrow what we talked about. Mom and I feel only relief that he will not be living in such dangerous circumstances for his physical safety as he is now.
He has a choice of 4 places in their region of the city that are willing to take him and so he has prioritized them for the administrator. If he can't get into his first choice right away then he can leave his name on a transfer list to be moved again once the place he really wants to be in has a room available. All 4 places are easily accessible to my Mom when she goes to visit.
Mom will have to get her name onto the waiting list for a bachelor suite in their present facility to try to get the costs for maintaining two residences lowered a bit. They are relieved that at least Dad's formulary drugs will be paid for as part of his long term care arrangement and he is all ready on a provincial plan that covers the one non-formulary drug he has to take twice a year.
We have deliberately not discussed the obvious: that Dad will likely not last more than a few months at most no matter where he is living. Mom and I are both very aware of that possibility and there is no point in scaring him any more than he all ready is. While it is his hope to die soon and be put out of his misery, there is still naturally that element of wanting to hang on.
So, I am relieved, plus I am also praying for a miracle of timing, both to get Dad into a proper long term care facility and to get Mom into a bachelor suite. If Dad has to stay where he is until closer to the new year, it would be wonderful if he could be moving at the time when my husband and I can go out and be there for him, to get him moved. Once I assured him that he will still be seeing his grandson as arranged, no matter where he is living, he settled down considerably.
So that is the basic summary of the news they shared this evening. I am so very relieved for both my parents that this part of the old age induced suffering nightmare will be ending in a matter of weeks. Dad will be attended 24 hours a day and Mom will be free of her role of care giver before she collapses from exhaustion and stress. Thank you Lord and thank you everyone who has been praying for them. Now the timing of the move and the actual facility for Dad are my prayer focus, as well as getting my mom into a smaller, less expensive suite.
It has been a good day. My dear friend came to visit this morning and we had a great chat with some laughs that cheered me up A LOT after not a great sleep last night. (now very much the exception rather than the rule, yay)
A sweet card and letter came from my best Japanese friend in Tokyo telling me how well she and her husband are doing. They are in their 90's but he is still doing repair carpentry for our church there and she is doing the church gardening. They have that Japanese longevity thing nailed down! As she gets older her English is deteriorating, but her letter was still understandable. I love hearing from them and am so grateful our friendship has continued to bloom over the 18 years since we came back to Canada.
I was able to contact my son's longest standing friend this evening to ask him about being on the list of substitute executors for our new wills if something were to happen to our son, leaving him unable to fulfill that task. The young man was delighted to be asked and we know that should he end up actually doing that job, everything will be done properly. He is so responsible and is just like family to us all.
My husband was able to get all the areas we want covered in our new wills written down to discuss with the lawyer when she calls in a couple of days. He emailed it to her and so it should expedite the process when we arrive at her office. He spent a long time on the computer and on the phone this afternoon getting some plans set up for his job and helping out parishioners. He has certainly all ready this month alone made up for the days he missed in the parish while he was so ill earlier this fall.
Had a chat with Kat and she continues to improve a bit day by day. Her naturopath has been incredibly helpful in her suggestions for supplements that have reduced Kat's remaining symptoms significantly. Val is getting closer to the end of the 1 year wait for her hip replacements and so we are praying that she will get in very soon. It has been a year from hell for her and everyone around her watching her suffering with so much pain every day.
Tomorrow my husband is going to have to accompany me on my out of the house errands due to the terrible ice on the sidewalks and parking lots, but that is okay. How blessed I am that his job is so few hours per week and he is available to help me on icy days in the winter. He is so willing to help me. Wow!
In the afternoon I have my weekly prayer meeting. Apparently the wee mousie at our host's house is still on the loose...what a wily little thing. It has sprung and avoided every trap he has set for it for the past week. Most of us ladies in the group are a bit squeamish about the dumb thing so I suspect we will all be sitting with our feet up on the coffee table in case it runs out from under a sofa or chair while we are meeting. hahahaha I know none of us will be putting our purses on the floor this week. hahahahaha
My husband's week will fill up with trips to his parish and other Diocesan meetings between Thursday morning and Saturday evening. Go, go, go....but it makes up the missing time from earlier, as I mentioned, so it is all good.
The time is drawing closer to our son's arrival in December. About three weeks left now....YIPPEE! He is getting excited about it as well. He is working hard on the newly requested extra paperwork for his visa and is glad for the reduction of work hours now because it gives him the time to do that as well as complete a couple of paintings for his first American show in a few months' time.
Well, I am tired. It has been a busy day and a good day. In the process of searching out some information in our old wills I was able to clean out both my desk drawers and now I have a pile of papers to be shredded at my earliest convenience. It is so nice to see that the bottom of the second drawer is no longer sagging from the weight of all those old papers and notebooks!
Dad is terrified of moving because of his near blindness, but he has been honest enough to tell the home care nurse and other workers about his fears and they are working with him to try to calm him. He and I worked through some of those issues on the phone tonight and I hope he is able to remember by tomorrow what we talked about. Mom and I feel only relief that he will not be living in such dangerous circumstances for his physical safety as he is now.
He has a choice of 4 places in their region of the city that are willing to take him and so he has prioritized them for the administrator. If he can't get into his first choice right away then he can leave his name on a transfer list to be moved again once the place he really wants to be in has a room available. All 4 places are easily accessible to my Mom when she goes to visit.
Mom will have to get her name onto the waiting list for a bachelor suite in their present facility to try to get the costs for maintaining two residences lowered a bit. They are relieved that at least Dad's formulary drugs will be paid for as part of his long term care arrangement and he is all ready on a provincial plan that covers the one non-formulary drug he has to take twice a year.
We have deliberately not discussed the obvious: that Dad will likely not last more than a few months at most no matter where he is living. Mom and I are both very aware of that possibility and there is no point in scaring him any more than he all ready is. While it is his hope to die soon and be put out of his misery, there is still naturally that element of wanting to hang on.
So, I am relieved, plus I am also praying for a miracle of timing, both to get Dad into a proper long term care facility and to get Mom into a bachelor suite. If Dad has to stay where he is until closer to the new year, it would be wonderful if he could be moving at the time when my husband and I can go out and be there for him, to get him moved. Once I assured him that he will still be seeing his grandson as arranged, no matter where he is living, he settled down considerably.
So that is the basic summary of the news they shared this evening. I am so very relieved for both my parents that this part of the old age induced suffering nightmare will be ending in a matter of weeks. Dad will be attended 24 hours a day and Mom will be free of her role of care giver before she collapses from exhaustion and stress. Thank you Lord and thank you everyone who has been praying for them. Now the timing of the move and the actual facility for Dad are my prayer focus, as well as getting my mom into a smaller, less expensive suite.
It has been a good day. My dear friend came to visit this morning and we had a great chat with some laughs that cheered me up A LOT after not a great sleep last night. (now very much the exception rather than the rule, yay)
A sweet card and letter came from my best Japanese friend in Tokyo telling me how well she and her husband are doing. They are in their 90's but he is still doing repair carpentry for our church there and she is doing the church gardening. They have that Japanese longevity thing nailed down! As she gets older her English is deteriorating, but her letter was still understandable. I love hearing from them and am so grateful our friendship has continued to bloom over the 18 years since we came back to Canada.
I was able to contact my son's longest standing friend this evening to ask him about being on the list of substitute executors for our new wills if something were to happen to our son, leaving him unable to fulfill that task. The young man was delighted to be asked and we know that should he end up actually doing that job, everything will be done properly. He is so responsible and is just like family to us all.
My husband was able to get all the areas we want covered in our new wills written down to discuss with the lawyer when she calls in a couple of days. He emailed it to her and so it should expedite the process when we arrive at her office. He spent a long time on the computer and on the phone this afternoon getting some plans set up for his job and helping out parishioners. He has certainly all ready this month alone made up for the days he missed in the parish while he was so ill earlier this fall.
Had a chat with Kat and she continues to improve a bit day by day. Her naturopath has been incredibly helpful in her suggestions for supplements that have reduced Kat's remaining symptoms significantly. Val is getting closer to the end of the 1 year wait for her hip replacements and so we are praying that she will get in very soon. It has been a year from hell for her and everyone around her watching her suffering with so much pain every day.
Tomorrow my husband is going to have to accompany me on my out of the house errands due to the terrible ice on the sidewalks and parking lots, but that is okay. How blessed I am that his job is so few hours per week and he is available to help me on icy days in the winter. He is so willing to help me. Wow!
In the afternoon I have my weekly prayer meeting. Apparently the wee mousie at our host's house is still on the loose...what a wily little thing. It has sprung and avoided every trap he has set for it for the past week. Most of us ladies in the group are a bit squeamish about the dumb thing so I suspect we will all be sitting with our feet up on the coffee table in case it runs out from under a sofa or chair while we are meeting. hahahaha I know none of us will be putting our purses on the floor this week. hahahahaha
My husband's week will fill up with trips to his parish and other Diocesan meetings between Thursday morning and Saturday evening. Go, go, go....but it makes up the missing time from earlier, as I mentioned, so it is all good.
The time is drawing closer to our son's arrival in December. About three weeks left now....YIPPEE! He is getting excited about it as well. He is working hard on the newly requested extra paperwork for his visa and is glad for the reduction of work hours now because it gives him the time to do that as well as complete a couple of paintings for his first American show in a few months' time.
Well, I am tired. It has been a busy day and a good day. In the process of searching out some information in our old wills I was able to clean out both my desk drawers and now I have a pile of papers to be shredded at my earliest convenience. It is so nice to see that the bottom of the second drawer is no longer sagging from the weight of all those old papers and notebooks!
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Two Surprises: One Nice, One Not!
The first surprise of today was most pleasant and appreciated: the weather this morning when I woke up was only -2C and the forecast high was for +4C! That news was special because it meant that with the nearly dry sidewalks and streets after several days with high temperatures in the pluses, I could walk to church this morning! YAY! AND the forecast rain for noon didn't arrive until after 3pm, so I didn't have to take the bus home after the service either. I got to walk again! That probably doesn't sound like much of a big deal to those of you who have never lived on the prairies in the winter, but believe me, being able to walk a nearly 6km round trip on dry pavement in late November in a prairie city is a near miracle!!! It was an absolutely glorious surprise!
The NOT so nice surprise is that along with the pouring rain, soon turning to snow flurries, came a change of forecast for daytime high temperatures for this week. Instead of having above zero daytime highs until later this week, today is actually our last day for such warmth until sometime next spring. As of tomorrow all the forecast daytime highs are for several degrees below zero. That means the rain currently sitting on top of every surface outside will be frozen solid by tomorrow morning and have a layer of snow sitting on top of it. Essentially, overnight the ice base for all the sidewalks, stairs and streets will be set up for the rest of the winter....sigh.... HOWEVER, having only a scant few days of ice under foot a few weeks ago, this amazing reprieve of the past couple of weeks has been much appreciated. I am most grateful to have been able to forget about walking on ice this late into the season. It has been a fairly safe season for walking out of doors for me. Technically we still have one more week of autumn, and this year we truly have had very little winter weather during the autmn season. Amazing!
So, it looks like today's walk is actually The Last Outdoor Walk of 2019 for me. This must be at least the third time I have posted my "last" walk of the year, but with the rain outside today and no plus temperatures forecast, today's was truly the final one. What a blessing it was!! Thank you Lord!
The NOT so nice surprise is that along with the pouring rain, soon turning to snow flurries, came a change of forecast for daytime high temperatures for this week. Instead of having above zero daytime highs until later this week, today is actually our last day for such warmth until sometime next spring. As of tomorrow all the forecast daytime highs are for several degrees below zero. That means the rain currently sitting on top of every surface outside will be frozen solid by tomorrow morning and have a layer of snow sitting on top of it. Essentially, overnight the ice base for all the sidewalks, stairs and streets will be set up for the rest of the winter....sigh.... HOWEVER, having only a scant few days of ice under foot a few weeks ago, this amazing reprieve of the past couple of weeks has been much appreciated. I am most grateful to have been able to forget about walking on ice this late into the season. It has been a fairly safe season for walking out of doors for me. Technically we still have one more week of autumn, and this year we truly have had very little winter weather during the autmn season. Amazing!
So, it looks like today's walk is actually The Last Outdoor Walk of 2019 for me. This must be at least the third time I have posted my "last" walk of the year, but with the rain outside today and no plus temperatures forecast, today's was truly the final one. What a blessing it was!! Thank you Lord!
Saturday, November 23, 2019
RePost from 2011 About My Reflection On Advent
Friday, December 16, 2011
My Advent Reflection.........
From Calvin Theological Seminary: "Secular
society knows a little something about Christmas but virtually nothing
about Advent. The danger for the Church is to end up going in this same
direction. In our rush to get to the manger, we are tempted to
downplay—or completely ignore—the Advent themes that the Church has long
believed are necessary so that we can come to the cradle of Christ in
the right way." (http://cep.calvinseminary link to Advent)
Dan Clendenin: "Praying to God for mighty
acts of deliverance is an entirely human and genuinely Christian
response to the pain and suffering of the world, of our neighbours, and
of our own lives. I intend never to stop praying for God's miraculous
intervention; such prayers remain a staple of my morning runs. But the
season of advent that we now enter adds an important qualification. God
is not a Cosmic Concierge. Human experience gives the lie to the
delusion, so deeply embedded in the American psyche, that every problem
has a solution and that every question has an answer. Sometimes we must
wait." (http://www.journeywithjesus.
Lamin Sanneh who teaches missions and world
Christianity and history at Yale Divinity School says "God has staked
the divine honour on the project to redeem and sanctify……God’s word [is]
powerful; it places God at the center of our ventures, as the first and
final surety. Christians, therefore, wait for the feast to come with
grateful hearts even though in the interim their minds are set on
unresolved troubles and unreachable horizons. Advent is quality time,
not because of its [noisy] and crowded demands, but because it provides a
time for us to receive God’s word and to collaborate in its fulfillment
by being the connecting rod between vision and action."
As a latecomer to Advent churches I found myself woefully ignorant of its tradition and practises. The
idea of spending time in lament and even despair for several weeks
prior to the excitement of the celebration of Christ’s birth was
originally abhorrent to me, in all my ignorance of the Advent season. And yet it made sense of my hitherto unexplained sadness, all through my adult life, in the weeks preceding Christmas. Since
the time of my recognition of Christ as the way to God, I knew
something had changed in my emotional response prior to the annual
Christmas celebration, a kind of darkness in my thoughts and feelings,
but I had no explanation for it. Finally I discovered the season of Advent. Indeed
it is a time for introspection, for admission that my life is not all
it should be; a time to examine the darkness surrounding a world of
political upheaval, wars, economic crises and violence; a time to admit
that neither I nor the most experienced of world leaders have answers
that will ultimately rescue the world around us; a time to face the
darkness and despair around the globe and the accompanying feeling of
hopelessness. Participating deliberately in the Advent
season is giving me new hope in the deliverance the birth of Jesus
Christ is bringing not only to me but to all the suffering world. The
truth that Jesus Christ is indeed The Answer is even more meaningful as
I now deliberately allow myself to feel, during the Advent weeks, deep
sadness for the misery of our world, to contemplate my own personal
failures and distresses, to begin to grasp the reality of a Christ-less
existence. At Christmas I now more fully realize and
experience the joy of a better understanding of the impact of Jesus’
birth upon the world; an overwhelming joy to see how his existence as
Lord of Lords moves us all toward the ultimate deliverance from despair:
the return of Jesus Christ as the Ruler and King of all creation. As we wait here in the darkness of Advent we have hope. The hope is Jesus Christ…the true light of the world.
Branching Out With Menu Choices
Today at DarBar I decided I couldn't possibly face a huge noon platter meal such as we generally order there. I opted instead for a small plate of fish pakora. With the addition of a piece of chicken naan the meal was just the right size for me. There were supposed to be six pieces of fish, but instead there were eight pieces. They are small, only two bites per piece but with the naan and the bit of side salad, all the fish bites slathered with mint/coriander, it was more than sufficient for amount. I had a tea masala for an extra treat and so enjoyed my lunch, plus it was wonderful not to leave the restaurant feeling stuffed.
The best part of the lunch was sharing it with our friends. We talked about all manner of things, particularly about Ireland and its history as the groom to be in the group is from there. The bride to be is a Canadian born oriental and she shared such interesting stories with us of her time in Asia as a young adult teaching English. In our engagement gift to them we included a packet of fresh mabo tofu mix because it was a favourite dish of hers in Japan. Today she returned the favour by presenting us with a bag of Japanese milk candies and apple cider candies purchased recently in our favourite Japanese grocery in Vancouver. What fun!
The day was mostly overcast but we had so much fun today we barely noticed the grey sky. We reached a high of +9C, but the wind was chilly so the remaining areas of hard packed snow on the lawns didn't melt entirely. However, the roads and sidewalks in the neighbourhood are dry and bare, so I think I will walk to church in the morning. By the time church is over the rain is to be coming down, so I will probably have to walk over to the bus stop a few blocks away from the church to come home, but that is okay. The temperature should be +3C to +4C, so freezing rain will not be an issue. My husband will be tied up with a late meeting in his parish, so I can take the time to ride the whole bus loop and get out right at my front door. If the rain consists of only light showers, I may just enjoy walking home again anyway. So nice to have the possibility of a long walk to look forward to. By mid week the daytime highs will be below zero again, so I want to make the most of any possible walking time.
Tomorrow is our third last adult Sunday School class on Ezekiel. I am going to miss this course when it ends. It has been a wonderful learning experience, some nuances I hadn't considered before when reading and studying the book. I am sure I was told more or less the same information in previous courses on Ezekiel, but for some reason many of the finer details didn't stay with me.
The morning church service is centered around the book of Habakkuk. The service is set up almost like a lessons and carols service in the Anglican church. There will be several readers of selected verses from each chapter with appropriate hymns scheduled in between. There will be short homily as well, which there would not be in a lessons and carols service, but at least we are singing the first verse of O Come O Come Emmanual, as our pastor tries desperately once again to convince a group of die hard Baptists to learn about proper Advent observance. hahaha He admits that in many ways it is a losing battle, particularly with the choice of music. hahaha The music leaders are not prone to want to use Advent hymns until Christmas Eve, then singing Christmas carols until Epiphany in the new year. That is okay, it is not their tradition, I just find the early introduction of Christmas carols in the Baptist church, right smack in the middle of Advent, quite jarring, to be honest. Last year I didn't sing along. I couldn't make myself do it. I will likely skip the Christmas concert at the church as well. It happens literally in the middle of Advent. I sang in the last one and found it most uncomfortable.
I do look forward to Sundays regardless of the celebrated season. They are busy, active, happy, Christ and church community centered days that I so enjoy.
The best part of the lunch was sharing it with our friends. We talked about all manner of things, particularly about Ireland and its history as the groom to be in the group is from there. The bride to be is a Canadian born oriental and she shared such interesting stories with us of her time in Asia as a young adult teaching English. In our engagement gift to them we included a packet of fresh mabo tofu mix because it was a favourite dish of hers in Japan. Today she returned the favour by presenting us with a bag of Japanese milk candies and apple cider candies purchased recently in our favourite Japanese grocery in Vancouver. What fun!
The day was mostly overcast but we had so much fun today we barely noticed the grey sky. We reached a high of +9C, but the wind was chilly so the remaining areas of hard packed snow on the lawns didn't melt entirely. However, the roads and sidewalks in the neighbourhood are dry and bare, so I think I will walk to church in the morning. By the time church is over the rain is to be coming down, so I will probably have to walk over to the bus stop a few blocks away from the church to come home, but that is okay. The temperature should be +3C to +4C, so freezing rain will not be an issue. My husband will be tied up with a late meeting in his parish, so I can take the time to ride the whole bus loop and get out right at my front door. If the rain consists of only light showers, I may just enjoy walking home again anyway. So nice to have the possibility of a long walk to look forward to. By mid week the daytime highs will be below zero again, so I want to make the most of any possible walking time.
Tomorrow is our third last adult Sunday School class on Ezekiel. I am going to miss this course when it ends. It has been a wonderful learning experience, some nuances I hadn't considered before when reading and studying the book. I am sure I was told more or less the same information in previous courses on Ezekiel, but for some reason many of the finer details didn't stay with me.
The morning church service is centered around the book of Habakkuk. The service is set up almost like a lessons and carols service in the Anglican church. There will be several readers of selected verses from each chapter with appropriate hymns scheduled in between. There will be short homily as well, which there would not be in a lessons and carols service, but at least we are singing the first verse of O Come O Come Emmanual, as our pastor tries desperately once again to convince a group of die hard Baptists to learn about proper Advent observance. hahaha He admits that in many ways it is a losing battle, particularly with the choice of music. hahaha The music leaders are not prone to want to use Advent hymns until Christmas Eve, then singing Christmas carols until Epiphany in the new year. That is okay, it is not their tradition, I just find the early introduction of Christmas carols in the Baptist church, right smack in the middle of Advent, quite jarring, to be honest. Last year I didn't sing along. I couldn't make myself do it. I will likely skip the Christmas concert at the church as well. It happens literally in the middle of Advent. I sang in the last one and found it most uncomfortable.
I do look forward to Sundays regardless of the celebrated season. They are busy, active, happy, Christ and church community centered days that I so enjoy.
Friday, November 22, 2019
An Unexpected Date Day!
What a wonderful day today has been thus far! Another night of excellent sleep, waking up to a gorgeous sunrise, spending the entire day under bright, cloudless, sunny skies...what could be better on a mid November day on the prairies, right? Of course right! O glorious, blessed, happy day!
My husband also had a great sleep and woke up prepared to go and run some parish related errands first thing this morning. We left after breakfast for a morning of shopping for ingredients for the spaghetti lunch he is serving his bible study parishioners this coming Sunday, plus we toured quite a few thrift shops and dollar stores to find bowls for eating spaghetti and chili and soup in at the church hall during Advent studies. What fun that was!! My husband bought me a couple of thrift store gifts as my "Christmas" presents, hahaha. What matters is that he found them on his own, wanted to get them for me and that was a lovely surprise. He is not a spontaneous gift giver as a rule, so I was quite delighted by his need to cheer me up and send some love my way. Thank you dear husband! I am wearing the new pendant necklace. The little pottery serving plate is sitting on the living room coffee table, filled with dried mango chips. Such a pretty plate and the muted blues and greys of the plate are a perfect complement to the muted blue dish that was all ready on the coffee table. I am delighted.
In the mail came a small gift offering designated "For treats only!" So, of course we went out for lunch at DarBar. What a surprise! No, really, the gift was a surprise and my husband's choice of restaurant was a surprise, particularly since we all ready have plans to meet friends from church there for lunch tomorrow. hahaha Hey, when my husband finds a favourite Indian restaurant, he likes to support it as often as he can. hahaha Ya' think?? As he said, he spends most of his home meal times now eating 79 cent blocks of tofu with a side of cheap, discount grocery frozen peas, so since Indian food sits well in his tummy, he is going to take every opportunity to eat it. I will not be arguing with him about that! hahaha
After we arrived home I hauled a pack of paper towels and a bottle of window cleaner outside and proceded to wash all the car windown inside and out. The line up at the car wash was way too long to bother with after lunch, but at least the windows should be cleaned of mud and splash. Not sure I did a great job, but they are certainly cleaner than they have been for the past week.
The downstairs cleaning project is progressing slowly but surely, a little bit accomplished each day. So, that is where I am off to now. I want to re-organize some of the storage items on the shelves.
Maybe on the way to the basement I will take a few minutes to stand out on the back deck in the sunshine. In another hour the sun will be almost below the treeline across the road and our place will be getting rather dark.
My husband also had a great sleep and woke up prepared to go and run some parish related errands first thing this morning. We left after breakfast for a morning of shopping for ingredients for the spaghetti lunch he is serving his bible study parishioners this coming Sunday, plus we toured quite a few thrift shops and dollar stores to find bowls for eating spaghetti and chili and soup in at the church hall during Advent studies. What fun that was!! My husband bought me a couple of thrift store gifts as my "Christmas" presents, hahaha. What matters is that he found them on his own, wanted to get them for me and that was a lovely surprise. He is not a spontaneous gift giver as a rule, so I was quite delighted by his need to cheer me up and send some love my way. Thank you dear husband! I am wearing the new pendant necklace. The little pottery serving plate is sitting on the living room coffee table, filled with dried mango chips. Such a pretty plate and the muted blues and greys of the plate are a perfect complement to the muted blue dish that was all ready on the coffee table. I am delighted.
In the mail came a small gift offering designated "For treats only!" So, of course we went out for lunch at DarBar. What a surprise! No, really, the gift was a surprise and my husband's choice of restaurant was a surprise, particularly since we all ready have plans to meet friends from church there for lunch tomorrow. hahaha Hey, when my husband finds a favourite Indian restaurant, he likes to support it as often as he can. hahaha Ya' think?? As he said, he spends most of his home meal times now eating 79 cent blocks of tofu with a side of cheap, discount grocery frozen peas, so since Indian food sits well in his tummy, he is going to take every opportunity to eat it. I will not be arguing with him about that! hahaha
After we arrived home I hauled a pack of paper towels and a bottle of window cleaner outside and proceded to wash all the car windown inside and out. The line up at the car wash was way too long to bother with after lunch, but at least the windows should be cleaned of mud and splash. Not sure I did a great job, but they are certainly cleaner than they have been for the past week.
The downstairs cleaning project is progressing slowly but surely, a little bit accomplished each day. So, that is where I am off to now. I want to re-organize some of the storage items on the shelves.
Maybe on the way to the basement I will take a few minutes to stand out on the back deck in the sunshine. In another hour the sun will be almost below the treeline across the road and our place will be getting rather dark.
Thursday, November 21, 2019
An Unexpected Date Night!
My husband had a positive meeting with the nutritionist this afternoon! She is delighted that over the past couple of weeks he has begun on his own implementing most of the dietary changes she recommends. He has to exercise more often and for longer periods of time, but I think he can do that. He just needs to haul his butt away from the stupid computer more often throughout the course of each day.
He did not go out to the parish after his appointment. He realized that next week there is a day long environmental conference happening out there. That will be a more productive day as far as getting to know and understand the community better. He was disappointed though to miss his dinner out, so he took me to China Doll for delicious Canadian Chinese food. We had fun cracking jokes and having light conversation about nothing of importance. We deliberately did not discuss the American impeachment hearings nor questions we have about our own Prime Minister’s new Cabinet appointments. The huge platters of vegetables filled us up and gave us the energy to come home and work in the basement for another hour tonight.
Tomorrow we need to go shopping for paper plates and bowls for my husband’s spaghetti lunch he will be serving to his parishioners on Sunday after the service. Following lunch there will be the first in a series of four Advent themed bible studies the congregation requested. He will have a great time!
We both have a busy week next week seeing friends, going to meetings etc. I am thrilled we have regained the energy to step back into regular life. Long may it last,
He did not go out to the parish after his appointment. He realized that next week there is a day long environmental conference happening out there. That will be a more productive day as far as getting to know and understand the community better. He was disappointed though to miss his dinner out, so he took me to China Doll for delicious Canadian Chinese food. We had fun cracking jokes and having light conversation about nothing of importance. We deliberately did not discuss the American impeachment hearings nor questions we have about our own Prime Minister’s new Cabinet appointments. The huge platters of vegetables filled us up and gave us the energy to come home and work in the basement for another hour tonight.
Tomorrow we need to go shopping for paper plates and bowls for my husband’s spaghetti lunch he will be serving to his parishioners on Sunday after the service. Following lunch there will be the first in a series of four Advent themed bible studies the congregation requested. He will have a great time!
We both have a busy week next week seeing friends, going to meetings etc. I am thrilled we have regained the energy to step back into regular life. Long may it last,
Fun With Points!
I've had a lovely time this morning! I have been wanting to pick up a nice baby gift for our youth pastor and his wife, who just had their second son. Second children, I have noticed, often get left out of the gift giving that usually accompanies the birth of a first child. This is not the time of month though when extra spending is possible, so I have been kind of frustrated because I want to give the baby something decent and not some piece of junk, just because it falls into the budget for cost.
This morning as I was heading to Superstore for a couple of items, it hit me: I must have sufficient points accrued to put toward a nice baby gift. So, when I arrived I went through all the baby clothes in Joe Fresh and finally found a pair of pants and a lumber style jacket that were fairly decent quality and on sale as well. I had exactly enough PC points saved to cover the cost of the baby clothes and the tax on them. YAY!!! It felt so good to be able to purchase something for this sweet baby boy. His dad is an amazing youth pastor and his mom is a calm woman with a great deal of patience. Number One son is a fountain of biblical and other knowledge, which he freely shares...and shares....and shares, haha, with us all on Sunday mornings during the children's story time. What fun!
Today the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and while it would be wonderful to have more of a breeze to dry up the last of any melt on the sidewalks and streets, there are few ice patches left anywhere. There is still a large patch of frozen boot prints in the remaining hard packed snow between my back door and the parking lot, but there are strips of bare grass on each side of it I can walk on to get to the car. We didn't reach our above zero daytime high yesterday, but the lead grey sky gave way to sunshine in the late afternoon and today is a beautiful day. I scooped up the remaining goose poo that was covered by the original snowfall while we were out of town the end of September and now it is safe to walk to the parking lot again. So far, we have only had geese in droves sitting on the front lawn a couple of times this month and they have not landed on the back lawns in our part of the complex at all. These two flocks of geese were very late born and when the rest of the geese headed south last month, the ones that are here now did not yet have all their flying feathers. Now I am worried they will freeze and/or starve to death once the real cold and snow of winter arrive next month. (See, I am not completely heartless about these annoying birds, I actually worry about them.)
This afternoon is my husband's appointment with the dietician at the hospital to discuss his high triglycerides. I hope she is able to help him come up with better ideas for diet and exercise and that he will maintain the discipline he has had the past couple of weeks to stick to the plan. He is finally well enough to actually exercise daily and is making sure that he does. This afternoon he will be on his way out of town to an event where his parish is located and it will require a restaurant dinner for him tonight. Sigh....please Lord, let him find something that is not too fatty and salty. He can't eat the raw vegetables in salads, so that makes it very difficult to find something he can digest properly and that won't put the cholesterol up even higher.
It is certainly apparent that people have prayed for me since I posted my upset over the obsessive stress reactions I was having. I have had excellent nights of sleep ever since, my attitude changed to one of coping and positivity with the snap of a finger for speed, the first morning I woke up after that post. Thank you so much everyone. Regaining perspective feels so good. I appreciate the care and concern very, very much. Confession of struggles can result in the darkness fleeing away because it has been exposed to the Light that heals and restores. The darkness continues to grow if it remains hidden. Once it is exposed it often has little substance after all. Your prayers added into the two bits of hopeful family news yesterday combined to give me TEN hours of sleep last night! I feel great today.
This afternoon's project will be ironing the clothes from last weekend's laundry. I put them over the top of the ironing board that sits folded up against the wall in my bedroom closet, shut the closet door and then promptly forgot about them! Out of sight, definitely out of mind. Yikes! Ironing will be a constructive way to stay on my feet after I eat lunch and push that blood sugar back into place! (Gin and tonic is even more effective, but isn't quite as appropriate for early afternoon. hahahaha)
Have a great day everyone.
This morning as I was heading to Superstore for a couple of items, it hit me: I must have sufficient points accrued to put toward a nice baby gift. So, when I arrived I went through all the baby clothes in Joe Fresh and finally found a pair of pants and a lumber style jacket that were fairly decent quality and on sale as well. I had exactly enough PC points saved to cover the cost of the baby clothes and the tax on them. YAY!!! It felt so good to be able to purchase something for this sweet baby boy. His dad is an amazing youth pastor and his mom is a calm woman with a great deal of patience. Number One son is a fountain of biblical and other knowledge, which he freely shares...and shares....and shares, haha, with us all on Sunday mornings during the children's story time. What fun!
Today the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and while it would be wonderful to have more of a breeze to dry up the last of any melt on the sidewalks and streets, there are few ice patches left anywhere. There is still a large patch of frozen boot prints in the remaining hard packed snow between my back door and the parking lot, but there are strips of bare grass on each side of it I can walk on to get to the car. We didn't reach our above zero daytime high yesterday, but the lead grey sky gave way to sunshine in the late afternoon and today is a beautiful day. I scooped up the remaining goose poo that was covered by the original snowfall while we were out of town the end of September and now it is safe to walk to the parking lot again. So far, we have only had geese in droves sitting on the front lawn a couple of times this month and they have not landed on the back lawns in our part of the complex at all. These two flocks of geese were very late born and when the rest of the geese headed south last month, the ones that are here now did not yet have all their flying feathers. Now I am worried they will freeze and/or starve to death once the real cold and snow of winter arrive next month. (See, I am not completely heartless about these annoying birds, I actually worry about them.)
This afternoon is my husband's appointment with the dietician at the hospital to discuss his high triglycerides. I hope she is able to help him come up with better ideas for diet and exercise and that he will maintain the discipline he has had the past couple of weeks to stick to the plan. He is finally well enough to actually exercise daily and is making sure that he does. This afternoon he will be on his way out of town to an event where his parish is located and it will require a restaurant dinner for him tonight. Sigh....please Lord, let him find something that is not too fatty and salty. He can't eat the raw vegetables in salads, so that makes it very difficult to find something he can digest properly and that won't put the cholesterol up even higher.
It is certainly apparent that people have prayed for me since I posted my upset over the obsessive stress reactions I was having. I have had excellent nights of sleep ever since, my attitude changed to one of coping and positivity with the snap of a finger for speed, the first morning I woke up after that post. Thank you so much everyone. Regaining perspective feels so good. I appreciate the care and concern very, very much. Confession of struggles can result in the darkness fleeing away because it has been exposed to the Light that heals and restores. The darkness continues to grow if it remains hidden. Once it is exposed it often has little substance after all. Your prayers added into the two bits of hopeful family news yesterday combined to give me TEN hours of sleep last night! I feel great today.
This afternoon's project will be ironing the clothes from last weekend's laundry. I put them over the top of the ironing board that sits folded up against the wall in my bedroom closet, shut the closet door and then promptly forgot about them! Out of sight, definitely out of mind. Yikes! Ironing will be a constructive way to stay on my feet after I eat lunch and push that blood sugar back into place! (Gin and tonic is even more effective, but isn't quite as appropriate for early afternoon. hahahaha)
Have a great day everyone.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Missing My West Central Saskatchewan Birds!
A friend sent me the photo below today. The beautiful bluejay in the photo is sitting on the picnic table in her backyard. I so miss living along a song bird migration route like we did when we lived in the west central portion of this province a few years ago: downy woodpeckers were my favourite, but o my, there were so many species, all with unique colouring, personality traits, feeding habits...well, I am grateful my friend sent me this photo. What nice memories it brings to mind.
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| Beautiful Bluejay! |
Aaaand Some More Hope...For My Parents This Time
I just had a good talk with my parents and it was an encouraging conversation!
The home care supervisor actually DID contact Dad's doctor on Monday and hooked him up to the director for hospice care. She is still refusing to take Dad into long term hospice and the doctor is not happy, but he did tell her, as well as the home care supervisor, that my dad needs to be moved into affordable long term care as soon as possible. Next Monday the home care supervisor and the long term care supervisor are coming to talk to Dad and Mom to see what can be set up, likely in the new year. Mom got pretty teary telling me about how she will have to get her name onto the list for a smaller bachelor suite once Dad's move is arranged in order to keep a roof over her own head, but once again we assured her that if and when that time comes we will be there to move her and take care of all the details. Hopefully she will remember that this time. The poor woman is so exhausted and stressed she isn't able to be completely rational. However, there are a few rays of hope. Dad talked to their investor...so cute...as if they have any real money to invest, but this fellow takes on lower income seniors pro bono as his community service contribution to the investment firm. He advised Dad not to jump too quickly as some turn over investment interest will be coming at the end of the year and then he will be able to give Dad the actual amount of money he and Mom will have some hope of affording come the new year. So, now we pray for the right timing for both of them to get moved into more appropriate spaces. Knowing that Dad is trying to move into a more adequate care situation means the staff where they are living now are knocking themselves out to make him more comfortable in the meantime. One rule at their facility is that when you are no longer physically capable of getting down to the dining room for dinner, you have to move out. Since Dad's name is on the list now for long term care, a staff member has started coming to the suite just before dinner, with a wheelchair to take him down to dinner and back. Mom is intensely grateful for the help. Between that and having a staffer come in to dress Dad every morning and get him ready for bed each evening, she is feeling the load beginning to lighten. Dad admits, now that his name is on the waiting list for care, he is ready to move. He has fought it up until the past few days. It is a relief to know he is not going to try to stay in the present facility any longer than he needs to. For Mom there is now a light at the end of her care giving tunnel. She received an additional blessing today with the reappearance of her favourite cleaning lady, after an absence of several months, during which time a complete incompetent had been doing the "cleaning".
Thank you Lord! Thank you prayer partners. We are all going to sleep better tonight.
The home care supervisor actually DID contact Dad's doctor on Monday and hooked him up to the director for hospice care. She is still refusing to take Dad into long term hospice and the doctor is not happy, but he did tell her, as well as the home care supervisor, that my dad needs to be moved into affordable long term care as soon as possible. Next Monday the home care supervisor and the long term care supervisor are coming to talk to Dad and Mom to see what can be set up, likely in the new year. Mom got pretty teary telling me about how she will have to get her name onto the list for a smaller bachelor suite once Dad's move is arranged in order to keep a roof over her own head, but once again we assured her that if and when that time comes we will be there to move her and take care of all the details. Hopefully she will remember that this time. The poor woman is so exhausted and stressed she isn't able to be completely rational. However, there are a few rays of hope. Dad talked to their investor...so cute...as if they have any real money to invest, but this fellow takes on lower income seniors pro bono as his community service contribution to the investment firm. He advised Dad not to jump too quickly as some turn over investment interest will be coming at the end of the year and then he will be able to give Dad the actual amount of money he and Mom will have some hope of affording come the new year. So, now we pray for the right timing for both of them to get moved into more appropriate spaces. Knowing that Dad is trying to move into a more adequate care situation means the staff where they are living now are knocking themselves out to make him more comfortable in the meantime. One rule at their facility is that when you are no longer physically capable of getting down to the dining room for dinner, you have to move out. Since Dad's name is on the list now for long term care, a staff member has started coming to the suite just before dinner, with a wheelchair to take him down to dinner and back. Mom is intensely grateful for the help. Between that and having a staffer come in to dress Dad every morning and get him ready for bed each evening, she is feeling the load beginning to lighten. Dad admits, now that his name is on the waiting list for care, he is ready to move. He has fought it up until the past few days. It is a relief to know he is not going to try to stay in the present facility any longer than he needs to. For Mom there is now a light at the end of her care giving tunnel. She received an additional blessing today with the reappearance of her favourite cleaning lady, after an absence of several months, during which time a complete incompetent had been doing the "cleaning".
Thank you Lord! Thank you prayer partners. We are all going to sleep better tonight.
A Bit of Hope For Our Son??
Just received a quick note from him saying that IF he is able to remain Stateside, he has had an offer to teach a course next autumn at the same university in Philadelphia that he gave an artist's talk to a couple of weeks ago. That COULD be another cog in the wheel necessary for the renewal. He talks to his immigration lawyer tomorrow. Thank you for praying. I am trying to let that worry go too and at least the email today was slightly encouraging!
So Far, So Great!
Thank you prayer partners, friends and family for gathering around me after my late night confession about not coping well with the current stresses. I had the best sleep last night!! For 7 hours I was completely unconscious, free from worry, reviving some joy in my spirit and mind. It was great!
This morning I automatically flipped on the tv to watch the impeachment hearings in the USA, but after about five minutes I shut the tv off and decided I am not prepared to take on any more negativity today. That is a situation completely out of my control, so why bog myself down further by becoming overly invested in the outcome, right? Not that it isn't an important piece of current history and not that the outcome will not have a world-wide impact, but I don't need to be concerned about it TODAY! Today is a day of healing and hope for me personally and I am going to enjoy it!
My husband and I woke up rejoicing this morning that he was feeling well enough to attend the Wednesday prayer service and men's breakfast he has had to miss a couple of times this month due to his exhaustion. He should be home soon and although he will be tired, he seems to be coping with "real life" again quite well. Yesterday afternoon he was bored doing computer related projects and writing sermons, so he went to the basement and installed a whole new shelving and storage unit in preparation for the possibility that in another month or two our basement may be filled with paintings and other of our son's possessions if he is unable to renew his visa. My husband has now tried each and every one of the foods he began reacting negatively to just prior to the onset of the tummy pains in September and he has successfully ingested all of them with no symptoms. So, he will continue on with his stricter diet and only have the offending foods occasionally. If this whole syndrome follows its usual pattern it will be at least a year before he will be able to truly expand his present diet with any regularity without experiencing problems. For now we are grateful for the present improvement in his health. Tomorrow he sees the hospital dietician for some more help with bringing down his triglycerides. He has begun regular evening exercise, walking up and down both flights of stairs carrying a ten pound weight in each hand and is starting to increase the number of reps slowly but surely.
A few minutes ago I found myself thinking about the concept of what is considered to be "SUCCESS" among members of my generation and have categorized my family members based on their adherence to that general concept of having a stable more or less lifelong career, with enough money for holidays, home owning, vehicle ownership and "toys", with sufficient savings for a relatively comfortable retirement.
Myself: Never Had a Hope! (never did find a career path that appealed to me and health issues constantly got in the way of any decent employment I ever had)
My husband: Perpetual Also Ran (when a person actually receives a letter from a company HR congratulating him for being second choice...aka didn't get the job, but is supposed to be THRILLED to be the next choice, wha'??...that tells you a lot about his working life right there)
Our son: So Near and Yet So Far (second place in RBC competition time after time, possibly about to be rejected from receiving his renewal visa just as he is breaking into the art scene in NYC)
My Mom: Big Fish in a Very Small Pond (one of a very few, unheralded women in the oil industry to be the equivalent of a junior executive in the 1950's and 1960's)
My Dad: Coulda' Shoulda' Woulda (accomplished a great deal in his field of education until sidelined at age 40 with poor health he never recovered from)
Interesting how life goes isn't it? Some of us with the best of abilities and intentions just don't "make it" due to circumstances beyond our control. Yet, we still have fulfilling lives in ways that other, more outwardly successful folk sometimes don't understand or appreciate. In all our family's "sad" cases, there have been some outstanding instances of Divine Providence that have in many ways more than made up for apparent the lack. So fascinating, right?
Now I am going to go and pay all the utility bills that came yesterday. It is an overcast, grey day again today with a chilly wind and bits of snow drifting about, but inside I am experiencing sunshine today. Prayer is a powerful thing and so is making a decision to smarten up, with God's help and get some control on the worries...something that is more possible after a sound sleep!
This morning I automatically flipped on the tv to watch the impeachment hearings in the USA, but after about five minutes I shut the tv off and decided I am not prepared to take on any more negativity today. That is a situation completely out of my control, so why bog myself down further by becoming overly invested in the outcome, right? Not that it isn't an important piece of current history and not that the outcome will not have a world-wide impact, but I don't need to be concerned about it TODAY! Today is a day of healing and hope for me personally and I am going to enjoy it!
My husband and I woke up rejoicing this morning that he was feeling well enough to attend the Wednesday prayer service and men's breakfast he has had to miss a couple of times this month due to his exhaustion. He should be home soon and although he will be tired, he seems to be coping with "real life" again quite well. Yesterday afternoon he was bored doing computer related projects and writing sermons, so he went to the basement and installed a whole new shelving and storage unit in preparation for the possibility that in another month or two our basement may be filled with paintings and other of our son's possessions if he is unable to renew his visa. My husband has now tried each and every one of the foods he began reacting negatively to just prior to the onset of the tummy pains in September and he has successfully ingested all of them with no symptoms. So, he will continue on with his stricter diet and only have the offending foods occasionally. If this whole syndrome follows its usual pattern it will be at least a year before he will be able to truly expand his present diet with any regularity without experiencing problems. For now we are grateful for the present improvement in his health. Tomorrow he sees the hospital dietician for some more help with bringing down his triglycerides. He has begun regular evening exercise, walking up and down both flights of stairs carrying a ten pound weight in each hand and is starting to increase the number of reps slowly but surely.
A few minutes ago I found myself thinking about the concept of what is considered to be "SUCCESS" among members of my generation and have categorized my family members based on their adherence to that general concept of having a stable more or less lifelong career, with enough money for holidays, home owning, vehicle ownership and "toys", with sufficient savings for a relatively comfortable retirement.
Myself: Never Had a Hope! (never did find a career path that appealed to me and health issues constantly got in the way of any decent employment I ever had)
My husband: Perpetual Also Ran (when a person actually receives a letter from a company HR congratulating him for being second choice...aka didn't get the job, but is supposed to be THRILLED to be the next choice, wha'??...that tells you a lot about his working life right there)
Our son: So Near and Yet So Far (second place in RBC competition time after time, possibly about to be rejected from receiving his renewal visa just as he is breaking into the art scene in NYC)
My Mom: Big Fish in a Very Small Pond (one of a very few, unheralded women in the oil industry to be the equivalent of a junior executive in the 1950's and 1960's)
My Dad: Coulda' Shoulda' Woulda (accomplished a great deal in his field of education until sidelined at age 40 with poor health he never recovered from)
Interesting how life goes isn't it? Some of us with the best of abilities and intentions just don't "make it" due to circumstances beyond our control. Yet, we still have fulfilling lives in ways that other, more outwardly successful folk sometimes don't understand or appreciate. In all our family's "sad" cases, there have been some outstanding instances of Divine Providence that have in many ways more than made up for apparent the lack. So fascinating, right?
Now I am going to go and pay all the utility bills that came yesterday. It is an overcast, grey day again today with a chilly wind and bits of snow drifting about, but inside I am experiencing sunshine today. Prayer is a powerful thing and so is making a decision to smarten up, with God's help and get some control on the worries...something that is more possible after a sound sleep!
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Battling The Tormenting Thoughts
Today has been one of my rare, very bad days where the negative, fearful thoughts in my head won't stop rotating despite the outward events of the day being very positive. Wow...how grateful I am that days like today have been few and far between in my life for the past 40 years or more. I haven't had a day this bad emotionally and mentally since I was in high school! Thank you LORD!!
Waking up at 4:30am means I have now been awake for over 19 hours. That is never good. I woke up in a panic about our son's US visa renewal and despite praying over that issue more than once througout the day, I couldn't stop thinking about it all through the relaxing morning I had while my husband was at his meeting, the marvellous prayer meeting I myself attended this afternoon, the making of a delicious dinner, a special visit with Kat on this her birthday.
Just as I was making dinner our son sent me an email to say that he has had a request for more paperwork and that although his lawyer is still very positive, our son is having some very stressful thoughts about what he should have done differently over the past three years with his art and work to ensure without doubt his renewal application would be accepted. Immigration Stateside is tightening up so much that I don't think it is possible to second guess himself as to what, if anything, he could have done differently. The wonderful thing though is that, with help from a benefactor, he was able to get his application expedited and he did indeed get this response after only two weeks. Without the expedited application he wouldn't even reach this stage until next summer!!! It would mean giving up his apartment, his possible new job in January and shipping all his belongings back to who knows where here in Canada. At least at this point there is still a chance for acceptance to stay in the country. One good thing about the uncertainty at our end of things is that tonight my husband made another major push to create space in the basement here for all our son's artworks and other personal belongings, just in case he has to make a trip back to NYC with our son before the new year to get his things packed up and shipped here. hahaha See...a silver lining!
So, please, if you've a mind to, pray for our son to get his final answer in the next couple of weeks. If he knows he has not been accepted before he flies here in mid December, it will be easier to get his stuff back across the border at the same time and if he actually gets the miracle he needs and is accepted for a new visa, he will be able to pay his January rent and have no worries when he comes here for his visit. He needs answers and the patience to wait for them without being overtaken by fear of what they are going to be.
In between the unasked for and unwanted inability to cope with my son's problems, I began to wonder how I am going to last another month until my oral biopsy. Today, not knowing what their conversation was doing to me inside, some folk started chattering about their friend who has just been diagnosed with tongue cancer, the same thing I am being biopsied for. They went on and on and ON about what she is facing, how horrible it is going to be for her, a living hell of disfiguration and problems with ingesting food and on and on and ON...I was nearly throwing up my lunch by the time the conversation mercifully drew to a close. I managed not to say anyting at all about my own wait for a similar biopsy, but afterward I came as close to tears as I have in years. Aaaaargh....this kind of fear of the unknown is not that common for me, at least not this depth of terror.
My parents were supposed to call me today with news of whether or not dad has been accepted into long term hospice care. The phone didn't ring. I don't know whether to call them tomorrow or not. If they are still waiting to hear they won't want to spend time discussing it, as they too are under so much stress in their own limbo land of waiting. They were also on my 4:30am prayer request list.
Right now our relative with cancer is either on a holiday in the mountains while awaiting a call for surgery....nearly two months after the diagnosis...OR has been called into the hospital and we will find out how things went after it is all over. We are pretty sure the mountain trip is happening, but we can only hope that is the case after not being able to make contact by phone today.
It is on the way to midnight and I admit I am too tired and burned out to be rational. So, I am just going to stay up until I can't keep my eyes open another second. There must be a super boring book to read somewhere around here that will put me to sleep, hahaha. I am prayed out to be honest. I have said all I can say to God, asked all the questions I can think of, prayed against these tormenting thoughts and finally, in the last few minutes, have begun to sense a letting go of the upsets and fears. Thanking God the peace has slowly started to arise since I began this post. Confession truly is good for the soul. Keeping fears secret only causes them to grow larger and more irrational and overwhelming. That is one reason I post such things. No one needs to bore themselves by reading about my struggles, but getting them written out where I can see them helps me regain perspective. I am starting to feel more peaceful than I have for the past 19 hours. Thank you Lord. Perhaps I will not need a boring book tonight after all.
I know a few hours of consecutive sleep will be a big help. That always helps. Admitting to friends and family how much stress I am taking on over my own and other peoples' issues is sometimes humiliating and somewhat embarrassing, but it forces me to be honest and open and vulnerable...it opens the gates for other people to pray for me at a time when I sorely need the support.
Hmmmm....I can feel the relaxation starting to overtake my tense muscles. My eyelids are finally feeling heavy for the first time since the middle of last night's lack of sleep. Aaaaah...this is very, very good.
G'night and thanks for your prayers. Hugs all around. Boring book, I think I can save you for another time.
Waking up at 4:30am means I have now been awake for over 19 hours. That is never good. I woke up in a panic about our son's US visa renewal and despite praying over that issue more than once througout the day, I couldn't stop thinking about it all through the relaxing morning I had while my husband was at his meeting, the marvellous prayer meeting I myself attended this afternoon, the making of a delicious dinner, a special visit with Kat on this her birthday.
Just as I was making dinner our son sent me an email to say that he has had a request for more paperwork and that although his lawyer is still very positive, our son is having some very stressful thoughts about what he should have done differently over the past three years with his art and work to ensure without doubt his renewal application would be accepted. Immigration Stateside is tightening up so much that I don't think it is possible to second guess himself as to what, if anything, he could have done differently. The wonderful thing though is that, with help from a benefactor, he was able to get his application expedited and he did indeed get this response after only two weeks. Without the expedited application he wouldn't even reach this stage until next summer!!! It would mean giving up his apartment, his possible new job in January and shipping all his belongings back to who knows where here in Canada. At least at this point there is still a chance for acceptance to stay in the country. One good thing about the uncertainty at our end of things is that tonight my husband made another major push to create space in the basement here for all our son's artworks and other personal belongings, just in case he has to make a trip back to NYC with our son before the new year to get his things packed up and shipped here. hahaha See...a silver lining!
So, please, if you've a mind to, pray for our son to get his final answer in the next couple of weeks. If he knows he has not been accepted before he flies here in mid December, it will be easier to get his stuff back across the border at the same time and if he actually gets the miracle he needs and is accepted for a new visa, he will be able to pay his January rent and have no worries when he comes here for his visit. He needs answers and the patience to wait for them without being overtaken by fear of what they are going to be.
In between the unasked for and unwanted inability to cope with my son's problems, I began to wonder how I am going to last another month until my oral biopsy. Today, not knowing what their conversation was doing to me inside, some folk started chattering about their friend who has just been diagnosed with tongue cancer, the same thing I am being biopsied for. They went on and on and ON about what she is facing, how horrible it is going to be for her, a living hell of disfiguration and problems with ingesting food and on and on and ON...I was nearly throwing up my lunch by the time the conversation mercifully drew to a close. I managed not to say anyting at all about my own wait for a similar biopsy, but afterward I came as close to tears as I have in years. Aaaaargh....this kind of fear of the unknown is not that common for me, at least not this depth of terror.
My parents were supposed to call me today with news of whether or not dad has been accepted into long term hospice care. The phone didn't ring. I don't know whether to call them tomorrow or not. If they are still waiting to hear they won't want to spend time discussing it, as they too are under so much stress in their own limbo land of waiting. They were also on my 4:30am prayer request list.
Right now our relative with cancer is either on a holiday in the mountains while awaiting a call for surgery....nearly two months after the diagnosis...OR has been called into the hospital and we will find out how things went after it is all over. We are pretty sure the mountain trip is happening, but we can only hope that is the case after not being able to make contact by phone today.
It is on the way to midnight and I admit I am too tired and burned out to be rational. So, I am just going to stay up until I can't keep my eyes open another second. There must be a super boring book to read somewhere around here that will put me to sleep, hahaha. I am prayed out to be honest. I have said all I can say to God, asked all the questions I can think of, prayed against these tormenting thoughts and finally, in the last few minutes, have begun to sense a letting go of the upsets and fears. Thanking God the peace has slowly started to arise since I began this post. Confession truly is good for the soul. Keeping fears secret only causes them to grow larger and more irrational and overwhelming. That is one reason I post such things. No one needs to bore themselves by reading about my struggles, but getting them written out where I can see them helps me regain perspective. I am starting to feel more peaceful than I have for the past 19 hours. Thank you Lord. Perhaps I will not need a boring book tonight after all.
I know a few hours of consecutive sleep will be a big help. That always helps. Admitting to friends and family how much stress I am taking on over my own and other peoples' issues is sometimes humiliating and somewhat embarrassing, but it forces me to be honest and open and vulnerable...it opens the gates for other people to pray for me at a time when I sorely need the support.
Hmmmm....I can feel the relaxation starting to overtake my tense muscles. My eyelids are finally feeling heavy for the first time since the middle of last night's lack of sleep. Aaaaah...this is very, very good.
G'night and thanks for your prayers. Hugs all around. Boring book, I think I can save you for another time.
Monday, November 18, 2019
Spending Frenzy! YIKES!!!
Wow....my husband went crazy this afternoon buying Indian and Chinese herbs, vegetables and other daily oriental food items that are sustaining him with his new diet. Gleep...a LOT of money I hadn't budgeted for this month. However, he is very excited, everything he purchased he is going to need/use in the coming weeks, so I just have to tweak my monthly grocery budget a bit in future to accommdate these new and more expensive foods that seem to be healing all his tummy problems of the past few months.
Confession: I overspent my own grocery budget on this afternoon's buying frenzy as well. We ended up at the liquidation grocery and I purchased 5 litres of my favourite dishwashing detergent for under nine dollars and 4 litres of the brand of general cleaning fluid I have used for years for just over eleven dollars. My husband's spending habits rubbed off on me today. The deals were fantastic, but I did depart sharply from my usual, "don't buy until I need it" policy that I follow when we are living on such a severely reduced income. There are times when a trip to the liquidation store is worth the expenditure and today was apparently one of those times. hahahaha
It was fantastic being out in the sunshine and warmth of the afternoon. I took a book with me for the ride around town, so when my husband was searching out items in places like Princess Auto, I just sat in the car with the window rolled down and the sun in my eyes, reading happily. Don't misunderstand me: I LOVE window shopping in Princess Auto because there are so many fascinating products in that store, but I always seem to purchase something in there that I don't really need, just because it is SO COOL! Sigh...during financially stressful times I MUST stay out of the Princess Auto outlet!
My husband prepared a huge cookie sheet covered roasted vegetables for dinner tonight and I fried chicken. It was nice to be able to enjoy some of the food we spent so much money on today. Yum! There are enough leftovers for tomorrow and probably the following day.
Some days I absolutely LOVE shopping: usually the rare days that my husband is the leader of the expedition and we spend, spend, spend! hahaha Thank you Jesus that only happens two or three times per year!
Confession: I overspent my own grocery budget on this afternoon's buying frenzy as well. We ended up at the liquidation grocery and I purchased 5 litres of my favourite dishwashing detergent for under nine dollars and 4 litres of the brand of general cleaning fluid I have used for years for just over eleven dollars. My husband's spending habits rubbed off on me today. The deals were fantastic, but I did depart sharply from my usual, "don't buy until I need it" policy that I follow when we are living on such a severely reduced income. There are times when a trip to the liquidation store is worth the expenditure and today was apparently one of those times. hahahaha
It was fantastic being out in the sunshine and warmth of the afternoon. I took a book with me for the ride around town, so when my husband was searching out items in places like Princess Auto, I just sat in the car with the window rolled down and the sun in my eyes, reading happily. Don't misunderstand me: I LOVE window shopping in Princess Auto because there are so many fascinating products in that store, but I always seem to purchase something in there that I don't really need, just because it is SO COOL! Sigh...during financially stressful times I MUST stay out of the Princess Auto outlet!
My husband prepared a huge cookie sheet covered roasted vegetables for dinner tonight and I fried chicken. It was nice to be able to enjoy some of the food we spent so much money on today. Yum! There are enough leftovers for tomorrow and probably the following day.
Some days I absolutely LOVE shopping: usually the rare days that my husband is the leader of the expedition and we spend, spend, spend! hahaha Thank you Jesus that only happens two or three times per year!
A New Day, YAY!
I could "feel" the change in the weather as soon as I woke up this morning. I slept well. I didn't wake up with an aching hip and ankle. The air in our suite had a pleasant sense about it.
Sure enough. The temperature by 7:30am was +4C. The sun has been shining all morning. While there are a few icy patches with water sitting on top, making them treacherous for walking on, they are few and far between. Mostly the sidewalks and streets are puddly, with car tires sending up splishes and splashes of water everywhere. The snow on the lawns has nearly melted away. It is more like an early spring day than one of the last lovely autumn days before the real winter arrives with its onslaught of miserably cold temperatures and huge deluges of snow. The only small problem today is that there is so little wind to dry up all this melt. That is what I am hoping for, so that when next we get snow it will not be sitting on a base of ice for the entire winter, but I doubt I will get my wish here on the prairies.
I am so very happy I was able to get to the grocery store this morning by 9:00am. What a perfect time to be strolling up and down the aisles with the shelves mostly freshly stocked after the weekend, only a handful of other customers compared to the crowds that were beginning to pour into the store by the time I left, just before 10am. I have the rest of the morning to decide how to spend the rest of the day. Perhaps, if I am feeling really brave and the utility bills arrive in the mail, I could walk downtown to pay them. If I take the longer route on the main streets and sidewalks it just may be safe enough to tackle on foot. I will check with my husband and see what he thinks about it....in other words, is he willing to come along with me? Whatever I do, go out or stay home, I will have the joy of sunny skies accompanying me.
Sure enough. The temperature by 7:30am was +4C. The sun has been shining all morning. While there are a few icy patches with water sitting on top, making them treacherous for walking on, they are few and far between. Mostly the sidewalks and streets are puddly, with car tires sending up splishes and splashes of water everywhere. The snow on the lawns has nearly melted away. It is more like an early spring day than one of the last lovely autumn days before the real winter arrives with its onslaught of miserably cold temperatures and huge deluges of snow. The only small problem today is that there is so little wind to dry up all this melt. That is what I am hoping for, so that when next we get snow it will not be sitting on a base of ice for the entire winter, but I doubt I will get my wish here on the prairies.
I am so very happy I was able to get to the grocery store this morning by 9:00am. What a perfect time to be strolling up and down the aisles with the shelves mostly freshly stocked after the weekend, only a handful of other customers compared to the crowds that were beginning to pour into the store by the time I left, just before 10am. I have the rest of the morning to decide how to spend the rest of the day. Perhaps, if I am feeling really brave and the utility bills arrive in the mail, I could walk downtown to pay them. If I take the longer route on the main streets and sidewalks it just may be safe enough to tackle on foot. I will check with my husband and see what he thinks about it....in other words, is he willing to come along with me? Whatever I do, go out or stay home, I will have the joy of sunny skies accompanying me.
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Trusting God For Someone Else's Safety
This morning's church service was very, very sad indeed as our congregation laid hands on our soon to be deported African friend and prayed that God would mercifully and lovingly protect him and his family as he returns to a country with many residents who will be seeking to harm them all. I cannot fathom the hell he is returning to; the chances of him being murdered before he even gets back to his family after an arduous journey from Canada is such an abhorrent thought I can scarcely stand to consider the possibility. His tearful, heartfelt thanks to all of us after the time of laying on of hands and prayers had me crying all over again. So many of us were weeping as the reality struck that he will be on a flight tomorrow all ready.
And so, we all are trusting that God has a higher purpose in mind for his return to Africa. Surely there is some reason we are completely unaware of for this immigration travesty. He will not likely get any sort of employment there that will support his family. The money he was able to send from his job here in Canada is the only thing that has kept his wife and children safe during his 2 year absence. Now what will happen Lord. How are you going to care for our friend and his family over there?
I can only assume that as God has cared for him here, he will continue to care for him there in whatever way is best. I have to believe that based on how God takes such good care of me in every frightening circumstance I have ever experienced. From my mouth to God's ears...... In between bouts of actually trusting God for our friend's safety, I just feel kind of ill......sigh..... It is so much easier to trust God for my own self than for others entering life endangering situations I have not yet had reason in my own life to understand. I can only hope the rest of us back here in Canada can accept it if God's best is not at all what we would choose for our friend and his family. O Lord, give us all grace to understand that your ways are not our ways and your thoughts are not our thoughts.
Prior to the service I attended the class on Ezekial once again. We concentrated this week on the prophesy concerning the destruction of Tyre. We studied and discussed the reasons God gave for what happened to their civilization, what we can learn from that situation and how those lessons could effect our own behaviour and spiritual lives today.
The business meeting after church was very well attended. There seemed to be a great deal of agreement on the details regarding the church budget for next year, very few questions and many unanimous votes. Whether my congregation is that much in sync with each other, or that many of those in attendance simply wanted to get things over with so they could go home and watch the semi-final football games prior to next week's Grey Cup game is anyone's guess, but whatever...the meeting didn't last long, had a well presented agenda and everyone seemed to leave the church very happy.
My husband and I watched football for the rest of the afternoon. We are extremely disappointed with the outcome of both games and likely will not bother watching next week's Grey Cup game. In one way I am slightly relieved our team lost their game because it means football fever will cool down in this city at last! I like football but there are limits!!
I was so happy we had leftovers to eat for dinner tonight. Sunday is my non-exercise, restful, lazy day and to not even have to cook a meal was heavenly!
Tomorrow there is nothing on the agenda apart from an early morning (hopefully) grocery shopping trip for me. Yay...NO ALARM to wake up to for another 36 hours! I am hoping there will not be as many icy patches tomorrow morning as there were today! I managed to turn 11 steps from the sidewalk, where my husband dropped me off, into the church into 34 steps...shuffle, shuffle, shuffle....yikes!
I am hoping that this week my parents will find out what is going to happen for certain regarding hospice for Dad, if my husband's brother in law will at last get his cancer surgery date, if our son's visa renewal has been accepted or rejected or is in need of the submission of yet more paperwork.
Tonight I looked at the website for the dental surgeon's clinic where I will be having my biopsy next month. I liked what I read about the doctors and support staff and I have all ready copied off and filled out the initial medical history form.
Well, time to get into bed and read some more of the excellent novel I mentioned a few posts ago, "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society." Good stuff!
And so, we all are trusting that God has a higher purpose in mind for his return to Africa. Surely there is some reason we are completely unaware of for this immigration travesty. He will not likely get any sort of employment there that will support his family. The money he was able to send from his job here in Canada is the only thing that has kept his wife and children safe during his 2 year absence. Now what will happen Lord. How are you going to care for our friend and his family over there?
I can only assume that as God has cared for him here, he will continue to care for him there in whatever way is best. I have to believe that based on how God takes such good care of me in every frightening circumstance I have ever experienced. From my mouth to God's ears...... In between bouts of actually trusting God for our friend's safety, I just feel kind of ill......sigh..... It is so much easier to trust God for my own self than for others entering life endangering situations I have not yet had reason in my own life to understand. I can only hope the rest of us back here in Canada can accept it if God's best is not at all what we would choose for our friend and his family. O Lord, give us all grace to understand that your ways are not our ways and your thoughts are not our thoughts.
Prior to the service I attended the class on Ezekial once again. We concentrated this week on the prophesy concerning the destruction of Tyre. We studied and discussed the reasons God gave for what happened to their civilization, what we can learn from that situation and how those lessons could effect our own behaviour and spiritual lives today.
The business meeting after church was very well attended. There seemed to be a great deal of agreement on the details regarding the church budget for next year, very few questions and many unanimous votes. Whether my congregation is that much in sync with each other, or that many of those in attendance simply wanted to get things over with so they could go home and watch the semi-final football games prior to next week's Grey Cup game is anyone's guess, but whatever...the meeting didn't last long, had a well presented agenda and everyone seemed to leave the church very happy.
My husband and I watched football for the rest of the afternoon. We are extremely disappointed with the outcome of both games and likely will not bother watching next week's Grey Cup game. In one way I am slightly relieved our team lost their game because it means football fever will cool down in this city at last! I like football but there are limits!!
I was so happy we had leftovers to eat for dinner tonight. Sunday is my non-exercise, restful, lazy day and to not even have to cook a meal was heavenly!
Tomorrow there is nothing on the agenda apart from an early morning (hopefully) grocery shopping trip for me. Yay...NO ALARM to wake up to for another 36 hours! I am hoping there will not be as many icy patches tomorrow morning as there were today! I managed to turn 11 steps from the sidewalk, where my husband dropped me off, into the church into 34 steps...shuffle, shuffle, shuffle....yikes!
I am hoping that this week my parents will find out what is going to happen for certain regarding hospice for Dad, if my husband's brother in law will at last get his cancer surgery date, if our son's visa renewal has been accepted or rejected or is in need of the submission of yet more paperwork.
Tonight I looked at the website for the dental surgeon's clinic where I will be having my biopsy next month. I liked what I read about the doctors and support staff and I have all ready copied off and filled out the initial medical history form.
Well, time to get into bed and read some more of the excellent novel I mentioned a few posts ago, "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society." Good stuff!
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Making Progress In His Latest War With CFS!
Since my husband changed his diet back to approximately the same diet he used over thirty years ago when first battling CFS, his symptoms have been in retreat.
He has eliminated almost all cereal grains, apart from the occasional naan bread in Indian restaurants, all alcohol, most black teas, all raw vegetables, most refined sugars and has severely cut down on rice and potatoes. Japanese yam noodles, buckwheat and channa flours and quinoa have once again replaced wheat and barley. Even the replacements foods are being eaten in small amounts. He eats a variety of proteins each day along with massive amounts of well cooked vegetables at every meal. He is consistently taking acidophilus and caprylic acid. What a positive difference we are seeing in his physical symptoms, his sleep patterns and his energy levels. Since he changed his diet nearly three weeks ago I am seeing the return of my husband in every way. We went through 13 or more agonizing years of experimentation with his diet to achieve what can now be accomplished in a matter of weeks. He stopped taking Gaviscon, abandoned his prescription meds and has had no need for either of them since he made the dietary changes. No more tummy pain!
How grateful I am that he underwent so much cancer testing to eliminate those frightening possibilities and I am even more grateful that we began to realize how similar all his symptoms have been to the initial symptoms of the onset of CFS so many years ago now.
As my husband continues to mend, he will have to guard against a slow slide back into eating habits that will eventually build into another full blown CFS episode in the future. He has gotten away with a non-CFS diet for nearly two decades, but now he will have to be more strict.
We both are very grateful, knowing there will still be days when he is wiped out from exhaustion for no apparent reason, but compared to the upsets of the last two months, it doesn’t seem like that big a deal. He is making a last minute tweak on his sermon for tomorrow after spending the entire afternoon quite happily changing it from what he wrote earlier in the week. He is looking forward to work tomorrow rather than dreading it....the best change if all!
He has eliminated almost all cereal grains, apart from the occasional naan bread in Indian restaurants, all alcohol, most black teas, all raw vegetables, most refined sugars and has severely cut down on rice and potatoes. Japanese yam noodles, buckwheat and channa flours and quinoa have once again replaced wheat and barley. Even the replacements foods are being eaten in small amounts. He eats a variety of proteins each day along with massive amounts of well cooked vegetables at every meal. He is consistently taking acidophilus and caprylic acid. What a positive difference we are seeing in his physical symptoms, his sleep patterns and his energy levels. Since he changed his diet nearly three weeks ago I am seeing the return of my husband in every way. We went through 13 or more agonizing years of experimentation with his diet to achieve what can now be accomplished in a matter of weeks. He stopped taking Gaviscon, abandoned his prescription meds and has had no need for either of them since he made the dietary changes. No more tummy pain!
How grateful I am that he underwent so much cancer testing to eliminate those frightening possibilities and I am even more grateful that we began to realize how similar all his symptoms have been to the initial symptoms of the onset of CFS so many years ago now.
As my husband continues to mend, he will have to guard against a slow slide back into eating habits that will eventually build into another full blown CFS episode in the future. He has gotten away with a non-CFS diet for nearly two decades, but now he will have to be more strict.
We both are very grateful, knowing there will still be days when he is wiped out from exhaustion for no apparent reason, but compared to the upsets of the last two months, it doesn’t seem like that big a deal. He is making a last minute tweak on his sermon for tomorrow after spending the entire afternoon quite happily changing it from what he wrote earlier in the week. He is looking forward to work tomorrow rather than dreading it....the best change if all!
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