I had such a lovely morning yesterday. It wasn’t all that difficult to manoeuvre over the icy sidewalks to get to my hair appointment. Not being killed by a maniac transit driver, who only narrowly avoided an accident when the bus was unable to stop on the icy street after he speeded up to drive through an all ready red light, was a particular thrill. The skidding of the tires, the cursing of the bus driver, the blaring horns of the cars around us as they too slid about the street in a wild attempt to avoid hitting the bus and/or each other, the ashen faced passengers on our bus...yeah, good stuff....
I decided to cash in my accrued points at the hair salon. My forty dollar haircut became a twenty dollar hair cut. There was method to my madness: the clothing store across the mall from the salon is having a clearance sale and there on a rack was a pair of warm winter pants I have drooled over with longing several times since last November but could not justify paying the inflated price for. Yesterday’s price for the only pair left AND in my size: $19.99! Bingo! No more heading out this winter in thin polyester pants!
Unfortunately I returned home with my pretty new “do” to sad news. A former student died last week of a drug overdose at the age of 37. Twice divorced, father of three young teenagers, Jordie had always been a handful. He was a hyperactive kid who was very close to his father. When Jordie was the age of his own youngest child, his father died from a brain aneurism. I remember the funeral. Mostly what I remember about it is Jordie escaping his mother’s firm grip on his shoulder as they entered the church for the memorial service, running up to the open casket and flinging himself across his father’s body in a flood of tears and violent emotion. It broke my heart. His mother subsequently remarried and the new husband treated Jordie like dirt. It was horrible and the marriage did not last. I lost track of Jordie after that. Jordie is the first of my former students to have died. If I am hurt and shocked by his passing how must his mother and siblings and his own children be feeling now? I ache for them.
Friday, January 31, 2020
The Government Giveth, The Insurance Company Taketh Away
Over the past week I have not been able to reconcile the account balance recorded in my bank book with the balance on my official bank statement. Yesterday I went to the bank for an updated statement to try to figure out the source of the discrepancy. The difference in the balances was only a few dollars, but there shouldn’t have been a discrepancy at all!
Lo and behold I did discover the issue: two of our automatic deposit amounts have changed. My Canada Pension received a raise of four dollars a month. My husband’s CPP received a raise of eleven dollars a month. Yay!
My husband’s all ready minuscule retirement pension has been reduced by a raise of nearly nine dollars a month for his health benefits deduction....although the amount he can claim in each category has not changed since the plan was last updated in 1996! Sigh.....
Anyway, the end result is a raise in monthly income of just over six dollars!
We will have to be careful not to spend it all in one place......
Lo and behold I did discover the issue: two of our automatic deposit amounts have changed. My Canada Pension received a raise of four dollars a month. My husband’s CPP received a raise of eleven dollars a month. Yay!
My husband’s all ready minuscule retirement pension has been reduced by a raise of nearly nine dollars a month for his health benefits deduction....although the amount he can claim in each category has not changed since the plan was last updated in 1996! Sigh.....
Anyway, the end result is a raise in monthly income of just over six dollars!
We will have to be careful not to spend it all in one place......
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Freezing Everything!
The freezing drizzle arrived last evening just before I drove over to my book club meeting. Fortunately there hadn’t been much at that time, so I had a safe drive there. I parked my car under a huge tree that protected my car windows from being covered in ice when I left for home two hours later. Despite my asking him not to, our host shovelled the bit of thicker, sole grabbing, snow cover from his sloping, exposed driveway, so the first few of us leaving after the study had to form a conga line to hold each other up on our way out to the street parking. Yikes! For once I was most grateful for all the snow between our home parking lot and my back door because it gave me excellent traction and I didn’t fall!
This morning there is thin ice everywhere and now I am happy about the snowy front lawns that will keep me from having to walk on the frozen sidewalk between my front door and the bus stop. In ten minutes I am leaving for a hair appointment downtown. It will still be safer to cross the snow on foot to the bus stop than to have to keep my balance on the icy parking lot while I try to hack the ice off my vehicle, then have to drive on icy streets to the crowded shopping centre parking structure.
Freezing rain on the prairie in January.....blecch pooey! We will go through this again at the start of spring and again in the autumn. Dratted climate change!
Well, I am grateful for the transit bus that takes me from just outside my own front door to the front door of the shopping centre. Fabulous!
This morning there is thin ice everywhere and now I am happy about the snowy front lawns that will keep me from having to walk on the frozen sidewalk between my front door and the bus stop. In ten minutes I am leaving for a hair appointment downtown. It will still be safer to cross the snow on foot to the bus stop than to have to keep my balance on the icy parking lot while I try to hack the ice off my vehicle, then have to drive on icy streets to the crowded shopping centre parking structure.
Freezing rain on the prairie in January.....blecch pooey! We will go through this again at the start of spring and again in the autumn. Dratted climate change!
Well, I am grateful for the transit bus that takes me from just outside my own front door to the front door of the shopping centre. Fabulous!
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Javier The Destroyer
Our son sent us a photo last evening. He was in his suite painting when his house mate's cat, Javier, came to visit. Javier always makes himself at home and no space is off limits to this curious kitty. He loves our son and often drops in to wreak a little havoc. Of course our son loves Javier and lets him get away with doing whatever he wants to do. hahaha It leads to photos like the following:
As you can see he makes himself right at home. The painting behind him makes a great back scratcher! hahahahaha Now that he is staying for an extended period in NYC once again, our son is planning to put the aquarium that used to house 1-2-3 the fish back together and purchase a new tetra. Hmmmm....not sure Javier will be able to come for any more visits in that case.....poor fishy!
I feel well today. Last night I put in my earplugs, shut the bedroom door against any slam banging around that might happen overnight at the neighbour's next door and had a grand sleep. No doubt the ibuprofen meds I took also kept me from awakening. The only discomfort I experience is when eating as I have to take tiny bites and chew them thoroughly on only one side of my mouth, but it is a small price to pay for finally being able to have the lump removed. The clinic just now called to check on my welfare and make sure I understand and am able to follow the post-surgical instructions. This clinic is certainly on top of things so I don't feel quite so defensive about the attention put into assuring they will get paid properly in the pre-surgery conversations.
I have been asked by my church today if I would like to assist a couple of times with the lay led prayers and scripture readings in March and April. I said yes, in faith that I will be able to do it. Here's hoping..... I am tired of sitting in the pews every Sunday taking in and not giving anything back in the service.
 |
| Javier in all his glory! |
As you can see he makes himself right at home. The painting behind him makes a great back scratcher! hahahahaha Now that he is staying for an extended period in NYC once again, our son is planning to put the aquarium that used to house 1-2-3 the fish back together and purchase a new tetra. Hmmmm....not sure Javier will be able to come for any more visits in that case.....poor fishy!
I feel well today. Last night I put in my earplugs, shut the bedroom door against any slam banging around that might happen overnight at the neighbour's next door and had a grand sleep. No doubt the ibuprofen meds I took also kept me from awakening. The only discomfort I experience is when eating as I have to take tiny bites and chew them thoroughly on only one side of my mouth, but it is a small price to pay for finally being able to have the lump removed. The clinic just now called to check on my welfare and make sure I understand and am able to follow the post-surgical instructions. This clinic is certainly on top of things so I don't feel quite so defensive about the attention put into assuring they will get paid properly in the pre-surgery conversations.
I have been asked by my church today if I would like to assist a couple of times with the lay led prayers and scripture readings in March and April. I said yes, in faith that I will be able to do it. Here's hoping..... I am tired of sitting in the pews every Sunday taking in and not giving anything back in the service.
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Gaining a Neighbour, Losing a Lump!
Last evening we finally found our new neighbour at home, so we went over to introduce ourselves. Should we have to call property management security over another party next door, we thought it would be good to at least know who we are reporting! We took a small "welcome to the complex" gift with us.
Our neighbour is a young university student and she lives there on her own. It would appear her older brothers have decided to use her place as a party house when they are in town and knowing her culture as well as we do, we can understand her fear in telling them it can't happen. We may well be calling in security in a couple of weeks when the next party occurs. However, she is a very nice gal, confines her pot smoking to late nights and opens her bedroom windows so that there is minimal odor coming into our place, which we appreciate.
We felt very strongly yesterday that we should at least meet her and welcome her, then discuss the party business a bit without any condemnation or serious scolding. If it has been an unsuccessful attempt then the security "big guns" will be called in next time. We may lose one more night's sleep in the process, but when we couldn't locate the 24hour noise complaint number I have on file until the party was all ready ending, then with the office still being closed for longer than reported when I went over with the letter of formal complaint, we thought maybe we were getting a spiritual nudge to at least wait until we could talk to the new tenant in person. Now that we have done that we feel much more peaceful about it all and now if we have to complain to the management or the police we can do so. For whatever reason we couldn't get past the idea that we had to make personal contact first. She was obviously surprised and delighted by our gift, so we are glad our first meeting was so positive. We will hang onto the complaint letter for now and update if required to include the next party if it happens.
Now we await the next party possibility and PRAY for mercy! hahaha
This morning we were at the dental clinic at 8:15am. I needed that 15 minutes extra time before the surgery to read all the information about the local anaesthetic that would be administered and sign a form that said I understood what it was saying and that I agreed to have it. Then I was given a list of emergency phone numbers in case problems arise unexpectedly after hours at the clinic. I was in the OR chair at 8:35am, blood pressure taken (only a LITTLE bit too high, but still in safe range despite my "white coat syndrome" reaction), blood pressure and heart monitors attached, surgical hat over my hair, eye protection against the bright lights in place, discussion with the surgical nurse about the procedure, all concluded by 8:45am. The surgeon completed the nearly painless procedure by 8:55am and and I was home at 9:10am with a bag of gauze to staunch any post surgical bleeding, a nearly treatise length form describing how to use it to maximum success, (there has been no bleeding, thankfully), a list of what I can and cannot eat for the next 7 days, (lukewarm everything and NO spicy Indian food whatsoever...waah, no use of straws, no spitting), what sorts of complications could occur and what to do about them, a description of how to massage my neck and cheek over the next week to stimulate saliva production after nearly a year's worth of blockage to that main duct, not only what to rinse my mouth with this week but when and how to do it, when I can resume brushing my teeth properly....the list is 😮 "lo-o-ong with many a winding turn....."😮 (If you are from my generation you will "get" the musical reference.)
So that's that until later in February when I will have my follow up appointment where the pathology report will also be read to me. That gives me another 3 weeks to not think about that part of it. YAY!
This afternoon I will go off to my ladies' prayer meeting as usual. Yippee!
Our neighbour is a young university student and she lives there on her own. It would appear her older brothers have decided to use her place as a party house when they are in town and knowing her culture as well as we do, we can understand her fear in telling them it can't happen. We may well be calling in security in a couple of weeks when the next party occurs. However, she is a very nice gal, confines her pot smoking to late nights and opens her bedroom windows so that there is minimal odor coming into our place, which we appreciate.
We felt very strongly yesterday that we should at least meet her and welcome her, then discuss the party business a bit without any condemnation or serious scolding. If it has been an unsuccessful attempt then the security "big guns" will be called in next time. We may lose one more night's sleep in the process, but when we couldn't locate the 24hour noise complaint number I have on file until the party was all ready ending, then with the office still being closed for longer than reported when I went over with the letter of formal complaint, we thought maybe we were getting a spiritual nudge to at least wait until we could talk to the new tenant in person. Now that we have done that we feel much more peaceful about it all and now if we have to complain to the management or the police we can do so. For whatever reason we couldn't get past the idea that we had to make personal contact first. She was obviously surprised and delighted by our gift, so we are glad our first meeting was so positive. We will hang onto the complaint letter for now and update if required to include the next party if it happens.
Now we await the next party possibility and PRAY for mercy! hahaha
This morning we were at the dental clinic at 8:15am. I needed that 15 minutes extra time before the surgery to read all the information about the local anaesthetic that would be administered and sign a form that said I understood what it was saying and that I agreed to have it. Then I was given a list of emergency phone numbers in case problems arise unexpectedly after hours at the clinic. I was in the OR chair at 8:35am, blood pressure taken (only a LITTLE bit too high, but still in safe range despite my "white coat syndrome" reaction), blood pressure and heart monitors attached, surgical hat over my hair, eye protection against the bright lights in place, discussion with the surgical nurse about the procedure, all concluded by 8:45am. The surgeon completed the nearly painless procedure by 8:55am and and I was home at 9:10am with a bag of gauze to staunch any post surgical bleeding, a nearly treatise length form describing how to use it to maximum success, (there has been no bleeding, thankfully), a list of what I can and cannot eat for the next 7 days, (lukewarm everything and NO spicy Indian food whatsoever...waah, no use of straws, no spitting), what sorts of complications could occur and what to do about them, a description of how to massage my neck and cheek over the next week to stimulate saliva production after nearly a year's worth of blockage to that main duct, not only what to rinse my mouth with this week but when and how to do it, when I can resume brushing my teeth properly....the list is 😮 "lo-o-ong with many a winding turn....."😮 (If you are from my generation you will "get" the musical reference.)
So that's that until later in February when I will have my follow up appointment where the pathology report will also be read to me. That gives me another 3 weeks to not think about that part of it. YAY!
This afternoon I will go off to my ladies' prayer meeting as usual. Yippee!
Monday, January 27, 2020
I Will Be Too Tired To Care About My Surgery Tomorrow!
Today is going to be a total washout and I will be too exhausted by tomorrow morning, after only two hours of sleep last night and who knows how little tonight, to care that I am having an oral surgery tomorrow. Maybe that is a good thing. At the rate I go when I am this tired, I wouldn't put it past myself to actually fall asleep during the procedure. I have done that during fillings and crown installations at my dentist's office more than once. hahaha
I slept well between 10:30 and 1am. Then the party began in the suite next to us. It ended at 6:30am. Do you think we could locate the phone number for the 24 noise complaint line for this complex? Of course not! Do you think the police take any interest in non-criminal activity like noisy apartment parties in a city with this many murders, assaults and other horrendous crimes? We knew better than to even call them because there was no noise happening outside the building. So, at 7am we drafted a formal letter of complaint to our property management company and at 9am I sadly took it over to the office to discuss the problem with them. I know that signed letters of complaint are taken very seriously and this is not the only party next door that we reported as happening with our new neighbours in the past 3 weeks, unfortunately. Unfortunately for US, the office is still under renovation and is still closed after being closed all last week. The painters are in there with great huge trays of paint, so hopefully the office staff will be back onsite in another couple of days as rents will be coming due by week's end. We just hope and pray there won't be another party prior to our handing in of the letter. Not that it wouldn't greatly strengthen our case, BUT neither of us can handle another night like the one last night. Have you ever been to a sports arena with old wooden floors when all the people in the bleachers are stamping their feet at the same time and making the whole place shake while the oompa organ music is playing at top volume? You have? Yeah...it was just like that. Inside our suite. For 5 of the wee hours of the morning. Sigh......
One of the gals who we THINK is a tenant next door, although with the number of people coming in and out of there we are not sure, headed off for the university bus at about 10am, but she was down the sidewalk and gone before we could catch up with her to talk to her about what happened last night. We would like to have a chance to talk to the actual girl(s?) who are living there before we have to submit a formal complaint. If she was at the party, she must have incredible stamina to go to classes only a couple of hours after it ended. I remember being that young though, so.....hahahaha Aaah, the energy of youth!
Anyway, we are hoping we will not have a repeat performance this evening or we are going to lose our minds and possibly our tempers, which, thanks to the grace and power of God, we have managed to rein in thus far.
I slept well between 10:30 and 1am. Then the party began in the suite next to us. It ended at 6:30am. Do you think we could locate the phone number for the 24 noise complaint line for this complex? Of course not! Do you think the police take any interest in non-criminal activity like noisy apartment parties in a city with this many murders, assaults and other horrendous crimes? We knew better than to even call them because there was no noise happening outside the building. So, at 7am we drafted a formal letter of complaint to our property management company and at 9am I sadly took it over to the office to discuss the problem with them. I know that signed letters of complaint are taken very seriously and this is not the only party next door that we reported as happening with our new neighbours in the past 3 weeks, unfortunately. Unfortunately for US, the office is still under renovation and is still closed after being closed all last week. The painters are in there with great huge trays of paint, so hopefully the office staff will be back onsite in another couple of days as rents will be coming due by week's end. We just hope and pray there won't be another party prior to our handing in of the letter. Not that it wouldn't greatly strengthen our case, BUT neither of us can handle another night like the one last night. Have you ever been to a sports arena with old wooden floors when all the people in the bleachers are stamping their feet at the same time and making the whole place shake while the oompa organ music is playing at top volume? You have? Yeah...it was just like that. Inside our suite. For 5 of the wee hours of the morning. Sigh......
One of the gals who we THINK is a tenant next door, although with the number of people coming in and out of there we are not sure, headed off for the university bus at about 10am, but she was down the sidewalk and gone before we could catch up with her to talk to her about what happened last night. We would like to have a chance to talk to the actual girl(s?) who are living there before we have to submit a formal complaint. If she was at the party, she must have incredible stamina to go to classes only a couple of hours after it ended. I remember being that young though, so.....hahahaha Aaah, the energy of youth!
Anyway, we are hoping we will not have a repeat performance this evening or we are going to lose our minds and possibly our tempers, which, thanks to the grace and power of God, we have managed to rein in thus far.
Saturday, January 25, 2020
If Your Car Is Running I’m Voting For It!
I have been watching some of the “highlights” of the impeachment trial going on down south and struggling to feel less discouraged about what is happening to North America. Up here in the Northern Kingdom we have the giant social media “scandal” (5, read ‘em, FIVE comments on twitter) over our federal leader purchasing doughnuts at a prairie bakery. Sigh...please tell me I am not the only person wondering what sort of lunacy has overtaken our continent’s population. Aaaaaargh!
Yesterday afternoon I went to the clinic for the injection of the osteoporosis drug I fought so hard to order at the pharmacy the previous day. As the pharmacist administered the painful injection, I felt almost triumphant about the procedure. Nyaaah, nyaaah, you can’t snatch it back again provincial medical department, health insurance company, pharmaceutical incompetents! That drug is now mine, it is right there, placed subcutaneously into my very own arm and you can’t take it back to look for any more ID’s, IP’s DIN’s, HCP’s, ABCDEFG’s or any other assigned number systems before I can have it! Safe at last, safe at last.....at least until July, when I will likely have the same battle on my hands prior to my next scheduled treatment.
Last night we attended a play to support the young budding actress daughter of a friend of ours. Here’s the short version: following instructions to the letter, (seriously, we got a letter from the programme coordinator for the theatre where the play was being held instructing attendees as to the required procedure to gain entrance to the production...it was even more demeaning than trying to gain admittance to the local Costco as a visitor!), we found a space for our car in the only public parking lot on the huge property at 5:10pm. At exactly 5:15pm, per instructions, we entered the building and the lineup to receive our admittance wristbands, Heil You Know Who, and at 5:20pm we finally received them after the two women in charge of the guest entry ticket list eventually found the name of the mother whose daughter we were there to support. Who knew she is using a hyphenated last name and not just her husband’s last name? At 5:21pm we took our place in the lineup for the rush seats, waiting for the doors into the auditorium to open. . For the next 45 minutes I cued up while my husband squatted on his haunches and read a theology book until the organization of the long, long lineup began to disintegrate and I needed his help to hold our place as more and more people were funnelled into the inadequate amount of space set aside for said lineup. That 45 minutes seemed like two hours as we jostled about, fending off line jumpers on all sides. At 6:01pm the auditorium doors were opened and the free for all to push each other out of the way in an attempt to procure preferred seating began. I discovered I can still run, shove and jump over the backs of theatre seats with the best of them! Go granny go! From 6:02pm until the play began at 6:30pm, my husband and I held seats for the six late arriving members on our friend’s guest list, battling no end of seat stealing attempts, jumped up, down, turnaround multiple tines searching for the absent members of our party, located and subsequently babysat a young friend of our budding actress whose mother dropped the poor kid off at the entrance to the building and drove off, leaving her completely lost and confused in the milling crowd, sorted out whose programme was whose, (they were all the same so it mattered because???), then fought tooth and nail with our ears to try to amp up their ability to hear the young actors whose director placed most of the play action, hence their tiny pre-teen and unmic’d voices, at the back of the stage where whatever they were saying and singing was completely absorbed by the rear stage curtains. Groan.....we escaped as soon as the play ended at 7:20pm. We tried to pat ourselves on the back for surviving the whole fiasco but we were too tired out to bother.
Well, we were happy to support the little girl and she did very well projecting her voice and singing brilliantly.
We returned home to discover our next door neighbour’s company parked mostly in our assigned spot, but my husband managed to squeeze our vehicle in between their car and the big metal maintenance bin on the other side of our assigned spot. Whatta guy!
Today we can sleep in....although my body did not receive the message about the “sleeping” aspect of sleeping in. I woke up at 2:08am and it is now 4:12am. Perhaps a hot shower will succeed in convincing my body to shut its eyes and do a bit of snoring for another couple of hours.
Yesterday afternoon I went to the clinic for the injection of the osteoporosis drug I fought so hard to order at the pharmacy the previous day. As the pharmacist administered the painful injection, I felt almost triumphant about the procedure. Nyaaah, nyaaah, you can’t snatch it back again provincial medical department, health insurance company, pharmaceutical incompetents! That drug is now mine, it is right there, placed subcutaneously into my very own arm and you can’t take it back to look for any more ID’s, IP’s DIN’s, HCP’s, ABCDEFG’s or any other assigned number systems before I can have it! Safe at last, safe at last.....at least until July, when I will likely have the same battle on my hands prior to my next scheduled treatment.
Last night we attended a play to support the young budding actress daughter of a friend of ours. Here’s the short version: following instructions to the letter, (seriously, we got a letter from the programme coordinator for the theatre where the play was being held instructing attendees as to the required procedure to gain entrance to the production...it was even more demeaning than trying to gain admittance to the local Costco as a visitor!), we found a space for our car in the only public parking lot on the huge property at 5:10pm. At exactly 5:15pm, per instructions, we entered the building and the lineup to receive our admittance wristbands, Heil You Know Who, and at 5:20pm we finally received them after the two women in charge of the guest entry ticket list eventually found the name of the mother whose daughter we were there to support. Who knew she is using a hyphenated last name and not just her husband’s last name? At 5:21pm we took our place in the lineup for the rush seats, waiting for the doors into the auditorium to open. . For the next 45 minutes I cued up while my husband squatted on his haunches and read a theology book until the organization of the long, long lineup began to disintegrate and I needed his help to hold our place as more and more people were funnelled into the inadequate amount of space set aside for said lineup. That 45 minutes seemed like two hours as we jostled about, fending off line jumpers on all sides. At 6:01pm the auditorium doors were opened and the free for all to push each other out of the way in an attempt to procure preferred seating began. I discovered I can still run, shove and jump over the backs of theatre seats with the best of them! Go granny go! From 6:02pm until the play began at 6:30pm, my husband and I held seats for the six late arriving members on our friend’s guest list, battling no end of seat stealing attempts, jumped up, down, turnaround multiple tines searching for the absent members of our party, located and subsequently babysat a young friend of our budding actress whose mother dropped the poor kid off at the entrance to the building and drove off, leaving her completely lost and confused in the milling crowd, sorted out whose programme was whose, (they were all the same so it mattered because???), then fought tooth and nail with our ears to try to amp up their ability to hear the young actors whose director placed most of the play action, hence their tiny pre-teen and unmic’d voices, at the back of the stage where whatever they were saying and singing was completely absorbed by the rear stage curtains. Groan.....we escaped as soon as the play ended at 7:20pm. We tried to pat ourselves on the back for surviving the whole fiasco but we were too tired out to bother.
Well, we were happy to support the little girl and she did very well projecting her voice and singing brilliantly.
We returned home to discover our next door neighbour’s company parked mostly in our assigned spot, but my husband managed to squeeze our vehicle in between their car and the big metal maintenance bin on the other side of our assigned spot. Whatta guy!
Today we can sleep in....although my body did not receive the message about the “sleeping” aspect of sleeping in. I woke up at 2:08am and it is now 4:12am. Perhaps a hot shower will succeed in convincing my body to shut its eyes and do a bit of snoring for another couple of hours.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Numbers And More Numbers Rule Our Lives As We Age!!
I had the craziest morning! I spent over 90 minutes of it at the pharmacy trying to get the prescription filled for my osteoporosis injection appointment tomorrow. Aiiii yiiiiii.....
I set my alarm for 7am so that I could get to the pharmacy as soon as it opened at 8am, in hopes the one injection box they had left yesterday when the order wasn't accepted by my insurance company would still be there.
Hallelujah, it was!! I relaxed....too soon as it turned out.
The pharmacist said that yes, it was quite likely the reason it hadn't been accepted yesterday for coverage was because I was ordering it 1 day earlier than the required 6 months between orders. No problem. He ran the prescription through the computer and voila: no acceptance by either the provincial government or by the insurance company. "That will be $485 please." WHA'????????????????????????????? NO WAY!
I told the pharmacist to put a hold on the order while I called my husband. My husband called the insurance company headquarters in Toronto and fortunately, since their own offices had just opened, he got through to one of the health insurance officers right away. She couldn't figure out why it hadn't been accepted, so she called the pharmacy to say she could manually put it through her system. She tried. It didn't work. So, she said the pharmacist should call the provincial medical department in Saskatoon to ask why. He tried. No one answered. He tried again. The person he talked to didn't know why it didn't go through as the very letter they sent me granting coverage until next July is still on file with them. He said we should call the insurance company back as the glitch must be their fault. How it could be their fault when initial acceptance for coverage for the prescription has to go through the provincial office anyway, we didn't know, but I dutifully called my husband again. He called the insurance company again. While I was waiting for my husband to call me back, a second pharmacist decided the problem was likely that I turned 65 last June but hadn't realized I could sign up for the special Senior's Drug Coverage plan with the government of Saskatchewan. The provincial medical department must have been waiting to see that application before they would cover my costs. The pharmacist gave me the form to fill out and told me where to take it in person to get faster action on being accepted, but that it would still take weeks, months if I didn't go in person, and so I would probably have to pay for the prescription up front today and then apply for reimbursement after I was accepted into the provincial seniors' plan. I told him to hold off on filling it until my husband got back to me. A few minutes later he did. He had discussed the problem with a different insurance company representative this time and the fellow said the reason it didn't go through, after a lot of time searching, was that the pharmacy and sent in an incorrect Drug Identification Number with the request. Back I went to the order window and this time the second pharmacist gave ordering a try. She looked at which DIN had been submitted when the first pharmacist tried to order the drug and he had indeed submitted the correct DIN! WHA??????????????????? The DIN the insurance company said had been sent to them definitely had not been sent to them. Each drug in the province has one DIN that doesn't change and no pharmacy has the capability of going into the system to change the DIN number. I asked the pharmacist to wait once again. I called my husband again. He called the insurance company again. He got the first rep again. She looked at the file again. She insisted that the DIN her company had received was the one the pharmacist said was not possible to have been submitted. Not only is it not the DIN for my drug, it is not a DIN for any drug in this province! My husband called me back. I relayed the information to both pharmacists who by now were labouring over the computer screen, along with me, as we desperately searched for something that could have gone wrong when the order was submitted.
All of a sudden the second pharmacist got an odd look on her face. "Excuse me just a second, but I have to turn this computer screen away from you for a moment Ma'am." She spun it away from me at light speed, whispered something to the first pharmacist, who started looking all wise and murmured, "Aaaaahhhh, oooooohhh...." over and over as the second pharmacist typed wildly on the keyboard.
After a minute of frantic activity, the second pharmacist looked up and said, "There you go Ma'am. That will be one dollar." I looked at her in absolute shock and asked her what happened.
The problem with the order was not that I was still ordering it on the wrong date, nor that I had turned 65 and not applied for provincial seniors' drug co-pay, nor that an incorrect DIN had been submitted! WHA'?????????
As we had all been staring at the screen in total confusion, the second pharmacist remembered the name of another patient who ordered my same drug a few days prior. There had been no problem with her order. The reason was that there is a special ID number to add into the order along with the DIN when an accepted non-formulary drug prescription is sent to the government for coverage. For some reason, after my last order in July of 2019, the ID number didn't make its way onto my 2020 pharmacy file computer page. The pharmacist had spun the screen away from me so she could look up the file of the other patient and see what that ID number is. As soon as she submitted the order along with that ID number, the coverage was cleared in a split second! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
In the midst of all this confusion and frustration, another patient, who had been waiting at the prescription counter beside me, before I made my initial request, got into a heated and verbally vile argument with the pharmacist over a mistake she herself had made when ordering her own prescription refill the day before. The new employee in the pharmacy had not picked up on her mistake, so when she arrived at the pharmacy this morning thinking she was picking up her refill, it was not ready for her. It would not be ready for her until tomorrow because it had to be ordered in. She blew a gasket....had she been a vehicle she literally would have blown a gasket. I have not heard the kind of expletives she let loose on that poor pharmacist in any pharmacy before, no matter how upset a patient has been. As her voice rose, so did his. He informed her that he as not a servant, thank you very much and the mistake had been her own. When she continued repeating the same foul words, he finally told her he would not serve her any longer, handed her a copy of her original prescription and told her to go elsewhere for her medications. She spent another ten minutes telling him what she thought of him, so eventually a security guard arrived to escort her from the store. It was horrible! There I sat on a chair in the waiting area, no more than ten feet from this screaming pair of personages, not certain where to look and having a heck of a time hearing my husband on my phone when he called me in the middle of their tirade to ask me where he could find the copy of my government drug coverage acceptance letter!
While the yelling was happening, the second pharmacist was trying desperately to calm the situation by telling both of them they needed to respect each other for the sake of humanity. Yeah....that absolutely helped...NOT! It just inflamed them both even more. What a morning they were having between the yelling, swearing, angry patient and the frustration of their inablity to put my prescription cost coverage through the system.
I arrived at the pharmacy as they were opening at 8am. I left the pharmacy at 9:40am. They couldn't have been kinder to me. I am grateful that I am old enough to know that yelling and swearing at people who don't have any more answers than I do about such problems isn't going to help the situation get resolved.
Guess there IS something good about old age after all.
I came home and ironed clothes to relieve my stresses. My husband relieved his stresses by going back to bed! He slept for 2 hours!
What a treat to go out for Indian food lunch at DarBar with Kat! YIPPEE!! We have been waiting for some weeks now to celebrate her cancer free status. AND the cancer free status of her sister as well, although her sister wasn't able to accompany us. After toasting each other with our glasses of water, we spent two hours talking about everything EXCEPT cancer. Kat assured me she will be there for me if I get bad news and we never mentioned the wretched disease again. It was a fabulous afternoon!!
My husband eventually woke up and enjoyed the rest of his day, writing articles and preparing for his next church service two weeks from now. He has to make a run out to the town his parish is in this coming Sunday to attend the early morning ecumenical gathering at the Roman Catholic Church there, before racing home to come to my church with me for the service. The Roman Catholics came to his church last Sunday at the start at the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, so he and his parish will attend their service for the final day of that celebration this Sunday. In the afternoon my husband and I will attend the closing service for this special week. It is at an Anglican church here in town and my minister is giving the sermon. We want to go and support him and also support my husband's city colleagues who will be there. It is going to be a busy day.
Tomorrow evening we will be attending a play starring the granddaughter of some friends....it is a sold out free for all with rush seating and hardly any room in the small parking lot outside for the number of cars that will be trying to find spaces. Whoever heard of a university with only one small public parking lot?? The short version is that we have to be there 90 minutes before it starts to have any hope of getting into the lineup for seats at a point in the line where the two of us will still be able to sit together. It is going to be crazy and we are going to be exhausted by the time the play starts, but we truly want to see the little girl perform. She is a most amazing person.
Saturday I plan to stay at home all day. My email pal from Florida is going to be calling me at some point and I don't want to miss her. We have not talked on the phone in about 6 years and our emails have been sporadic during that time. She isn't sure what time she will be able to call and I don't care, as long as she does call! She will be at home all day on Saturday as well giving her MS a rest after a very busy week. I will be home giving my tired self a rest before next week's "Crazy" starts again Sunday morning.
It will be a good weekend I think with a balance of rest and activity and quietness and visiting. YAY!
Hopefully the fog we experienced outside ALL day today will be gone by tomorrow. The temperature all day was only a few degrees below zero but the fog didn't disspate at all. I don't mind the fog if I don't have to drive too far in it. Mind you, as long as the temperature stays this high in January, I can handle fog every day!
I set my alarm for 7am so that I could get to the pharmacy as soon as it opened at 8am, in hopes the one injection box they had left yesterday when the order wasn't accepted by my insurance company would still be there.
Hallelujah, it was!! I relaxed....too soon as it turned out.
The pharmacist said that yes, it was quite likely the reason it hadn't been accepted yesterday for coverage was because I was ordering it 1 day earlier than the required 6 months between orders. No problem. He ran the prescription through the computer and voila: no acceptance by either the provincial government or by the insurance company. "That will be $485 please." WHA'????????????????????????????? NO WAY!
I told the pharmacist to put a hold on the order while I called my husband. My husband called the insurance company headquarters in Toronto and fortunately, since their own offices had just opened, he got through to one of the health insurance officers right away. She couldn't figure out why it hadn't been accepted, so she called the pharmacy to say she could manually put it through her system. She tried. It didn't work. So, she said the pharmacist should call the provincial medical department in Saskatoon to ask why. He tried. No one answered. He tried again. The person he talked to didn't know why it didn't go through as the very letter they sent me granting coverage until next July is still on file with them. He said we should call the insurance company back as the glitch must be their fault. How it could be their fault when initial acceptance for coverage for the prescription has to go through the provincial office anyway, we didn't know, but I dutifully called my husband again. He called the insurance company again. While I was waiting for my husband to call me back, a second pharmacist decided the problem was likely that I turned 65 last June but hadn't realized I could sign up for the special Senior's Drug Coverage plan with the government of Saskatchewan. The provincial medical department must have been waiting to see that application before they would cover my costs. The pharmacist gave me the form to fill out and told me where to take it in person to get faster action on being accepted, but that it would still take weeks, months if I didn't go in person, and so I would probably have to pay for the prescription up front today and then apply for reimbursement after I was accepted into the provincial seniors' plan. I told him to hold off on filling it until my husband got back to me. A few minutes later he did. He had discussed the problem with a different insurance company representative this time and the fellow said the reason it didn't go through, after a lot of time searching, was that the pharmacy and sent in an incorrect Drug Identification Number with the request. Back I went to the order window and this time the second pharmacist gave ordering a try. She looked at which DIN had been submitted when the first pharmacist tried to order the drug and he had indeed submitted the correct DIN! WHA??????????????????? The DIN the insurance company said had been sent to them definitely had not been sent to them. Each drug in the province has one DIN that doesn't change and no pharmacy has the capability of going into the system to change the DIN number. I asked the pharmacist to wait once again. I called my husband again. He called the insurance company again. He got the first rep again. She looked at the file again. She insisted that the DIN her company had received was the one the pharmacist said was not possible to have been submitted. Not only is it not the DIN for my drug, it is not a DIN for any drug in this province! My husband called me back. I relayed the information to both pharmacists who by now were labouring over the computer screen, along with me, as we desperately searched for something that could have gone wrong when the order was submitted.
All of a sudden the second pharmacist got an odd look on her face. "Excuse me just a second, but I have to turn this computer screen away from you for a moment Ma'am." She spun it away from me at light speed, whispered something to the first pharmacist, who started looking all wise and murmured, "Aaaaahhhh, oooooohhh...." over and over as the second pharmacist typed wildly on the keyboard.
After a minute of frantic activity, the second pharmacist looked up and said, "There you go Ma'am. That will be one dollar." I looked at her in absolute shock and asked her what happened.
The problem with the order was not that I was still ordering it on the wrong date, nor that I had turned 65 and not applied for provincial seniors' drug co-pay, nor that an incorrect DIN had been submitted! WHA'?????????
As we had all been staring at the screen in total confusion, the second pharmacist remembered the name of another patient who ordered my same drug a few days prior. There had been no problem with her order. The reason was that there is a special ID number to add into the order along with the DIN when an accepted non-formulary drug prescription is sent to the government for coverage. For some reason, after my last order in July of 2019, the ID number didn't make its way onto my 2020 pharmacy file computer page. The pharmacist had spun the screen away from me so she could look up the file of the other patient and see what that ID number is. As soon as she submitted the order along with that ID number, the coverage was cleared in a split second! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
In the midst of all this confusion and frustration, another patient, who had been waiting at the prescription counter beside me, before I made my initial request, got into a heated and verbally vile argument with the pharmacist over a mistake she herself had made when ordering her own prescription refill the day before. The new employee in the pharmacy had not picked up on her mistake, so when she arrived at the pharmacy this morning thinking she was picking up her refill, it was not ready for her. It would not be ready for her until tomorrow because it had to be ordered in. She blew a gasket....had she been a vehicle she literally would have blown a gasket. I have not heard the kind of expletives she let loose on that poor pharmacist in any pharmacy before, no matter how upset a patient has been. As her voice rose, so did his. He informed her that he as not a servant, thank you very much and the mistake had been her own. When she continued repeating the same foul words, he finally told her he would not serve her any longer, handed her a copy of her original prescription and told her to go elsewhere for her medications. She spent another ten minutes telling him what she thought of him, so eventually a security guard arrived to escort her from the store. It was horrible! There I sat on a chair in the waiting area, no more than ten feet from this screaming pair of personages, not certain where to look and having a heck of a time hearing my husband on my phone when he called me in the middle of their tirade to ask me where he could find the copy of my government drug coverage acceptance letter!
While the yelling was happening, the second pharmacist was trying desperately to calm the situation by telling both of them they needed to respect each other for the sake of humanity. Yeah....that absolutely helped...NOT! It just inflamed them both even more. What a morning they were having between the yelling, swearing, angry patient and the frustration of their inablity to put my prescription cost coverage through the system.
I arrived at the pharmacy as they were opening at 8am. I left the pharmacy at 9:40am. They couldn't have been kinder to me. I am grateful that I am old enough to know that yelling and swearing at people who don't have any more answers than I do about such problems isn't going to help the situation get resolved.
Guess there IS something good about old age after all.
I came home and ironed clothes to relieve my stresses. My husband relieved his stresses by going back to bed! He slept for 2 hours!
What a treat to go out for Indian food lunch at DarBar with Kat! YIPPEE!! We have been waiting for some weeks now to celebrate her cancer free status. AND the cancer free status of her sister as well, although her sister wasn't able to accompany us. After toasting each other with our glasses of water, we spent two hours talking about everything EXCEPT cancer. Kat assured me she will be there for me if I get bad news and we never mentioned the wretched disease again. It was a fabulous afternoon!!
My husband eventually woke up and enjoyed the rest of his day, writing articles and preparing for his next church service two weeks from now. He has to make a run out to the town his parish is in this coming Sunday to attend the early morning ecumenical gathering at the Roman Catholic Church there, before racing home to come to my church with me for the service. The Roman Catholics came to his church last Sunday at the start at the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, so he and his parish will attend their service for the final day of that celebration this Sunday. In the afternoon my husband and I will attend the closing service for this special week. It is at an Anglican church here in town and my minister is giving the sermon. We want to go and support him and also support my husband's city colleagues who will be there. It is going to be a busy day.
Tomorrow evening we will be attending a play starring the granddaughter of some friends....it is a sold out free for all with rush seating and hardly any room in the small parking lot outside for the number of cars that will be trying to find spaces. Whoever heard of a university with only one small public parking lot?? The short version is that we have to be there 90 minutes before it starts to have any hope of getting into the lineup for seats at a point in the line where the two of us will still be able to sit together. It is going to be crazy and we are going to be exhausted by the time the play starts, but we truly want to see the little girl perform. She is a most amazing person.
Saturday I plan to stay at home all day. My email pal from Florida is going to be calling me at some point and I don't want to miss her. We have not talked on the phone in about 6 years and our emails have been sporadic during that time. She isn't sure what time she will be able to call and I don't care, as long as she does call! She will be at home all day on Saturday as well giving her MS a rest after a very busy week. I will be home giving my tired self a rest before next week's "Crazy" starts again Sunday morning.
It will be a good weekend I think with a balance of rest and activity and quietness and visiting. YAY!
Hopefully the fog we experienced outside ALL day today will be gone by tomorrow. The temperature all day was only a few degrees below zero but the fog didn't disspate at all. I don't mind the fog if I don't have to drive too far in it. Mind you, as long as the temperature stays this high in January, I can handle fog every day!
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Why Are You Preparing For the Worst, O Ye Of Little Faith???
I have been asking myself that question for several days now as I think about having my oral surgery and biopsy next week.
It hasn't been easy to forget about it the past few days, which is what I had been able to do over the holiday season we visited with our son and other relatives.
Part of the reason I am not assuming I am cancer free is not because I want to dwell on the dire possibilities, (I am not a crepehanger), but because I am so surrounded by friends and family battling various cancers that I wonder why I should be exempt from the sufferings of others with this disease. I would of course prefer to have a different disease of my own to battle, should having any disease at all be part of my life experience, but how can I blithely assume all will be well with me when so many others are not well at all?
It isn't helping me that out of the last 3 books I read before and during the holidays, there was one character with oral cancer in each of them!!! Since two of them were biographical and only one was an invention for a novel, it kind of shook me up to be confronted with that very form of cancer I could also be facing.
I don't think there is any way to truly prepare for the shock of hearing a dismal diagnosis, but better to realize it COULD happen than to be completely blindsided by assuming it "COULDN'T happen to me!". I have met too many people who have been blindsided by a cancer diagnosis and since I can't handle being lied to by other people, I certainly don't want to lie to myself about possible outcomes in my own pathology report. Denial is not something I am good at.
This post is making it sound as if I am wrapped up in thinking and worrying and praying about oral cancer every moment of every day and I certainly am not doing that. I just caught myself thinking about it the past couple of afternoons during lulls in the daily action and wondered why I was thinking about it at all ahead of the biopsy.
As much as I admire positive thinking people who somehow manage to bully themselves into assuming the best possible outcome for all possibly unhappy scenarios, that is not me. I need time to prepare for outcomes both bad and good. Being a problem solver sort of person, that is how I deal with any stress related to possible upcoming health problems. It brings a certain feeling of security, however misplaced, to think of every solution to every problem stemming from negative outcomes. I am glad I have that to distract me when the stress does arise like it has the past two afternoons.
Late at night the strong odor of pot invades our bathroom for about an hour, coming through the open space for the plumbing stacks between us and our new neighbour. Perhaps if I have struggles with my nerves between now and the 28th I could go to her place and share a toke with her....since I am rather allergic to weed, my reaction to that stuff would CERTAINLY take my mind off any other problems I might be facing! hahahaha
It hasn't been easy to forget about it the past few days, which is what I had been able to do over the holiday season we visited with our son and other relatives.
Part of the reason I am not assuming I am cancer free is not because I want to dwell on the dire possibilities, (I am not a crepehanger), but because I am so surrounded by friends and family battling various cancers that I wonder why I should be exempt from the sufferings of others with this disease. I would of course prefer to have a different disease of my own to battle, should having any disease at all be part of my life experience, but how can I blithely assume all will be well with me when so many others are not well at all?
It isn't helping me that out of the last 3 books I read before and during the holidays, there was one character with oral cancer in each of them!!! Since two of them were biographical and only one was an invention for a novel, it kind of shook me up to be confronted with that very form of cancer I could also be facing.
I don't think there is any way to truly prepare for the shock of hearing a dismal diagnosis, but better to realize it COULD happen than to be completely blindsided by assuming it "COULDN'T happen to me!". I have met too many people who have been blindsided by a cancer diagnosis and since I can't handle being lied to by other people, I certainly don't want to lie to myself about possible outcomes in my own pathology report. Denial is not something I am good at.
This post is making it sound as if I am wrapped up in thinking and worrying and praying about oral cancer every moment of every day and I certainly am not doing that. I just caught myself thinking about it the past couple of afternoons during lulls in the daily action and wondered why I was thinking about it at all ahead of the biopsy.
As much as I admire positive thinking people who somehow manage to bully themselves into assuming the best possible outcome for all possibly unhappy scenarios, that is not me. I need time to prepare for outcomes both bad and good. Being a problem solver sort of person, that is how I deal with any stress related to possible upcoming health problems. It brings a certain feeling of security, however misplaced, to think of every solution to every problem stemming from negative outcomes. I am glad I have that to distract me when the stress does arise like it has the past two afternoons.
Late at night the strong odor of pot invades our bathroom for about an hour, coming through the open space for the plumbing stacks between us and our new neighbour. Perhaps if I have struggles with my nerves between now and the 28th I could go to her place and share a toke with her....since I am rather allergic to weed, my reaction to that stuff would CERTAINLY take my mind off any other problems I might be facing! hahahaha
Aaaargh!!! Too Many Books!
The past week or so I have been trying to juggle, in the bit of time I have each day to settle down and concentrate on reading, two different books. One is a 2013 Giller Prize winning novel, "The Luminaries" by Eleanor Catton. The other is The Collected Writings of St. John of the Cross. Both texts are rather dark and moody in their own special way! However, I have been ploughing slowly through them both as able.
Today in the mail came a delivery of the next book we are reading for our winter/spring session of ladies' book club: "Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World's Largest Religion" by Rebecca McLaughlin. Some of the chapter headings are: Aren't We Better Off Without Religion; Doesn't Christianity Crush Diversity; Isn't Christianity Homophobic; and Hasn't Science Disproved Christianity, among others. I am looking forward to getting started on it later this evening. Again though, not exactly a laugh filled reading experience.
Once I have completed the novel and the book club publication I am going to look for something to read that is strictly humorous!!
In other news, a few minutes ago we received an email from my husband's sister with news from her husband's pathology report. Unfortunately his cancer is a particularly aggressive one. However, it appears to have been contained to the one tumor that was removed along with his kidney. Often tumors confined to a kidney that are removed intact can leave the patient in need of no further treatment. However, due to the aggressive nature of this particular cancer, there will be further CT scans and other laboratory testing done in another couple of months. The situation will need to be closely monitored. While on the one hand, this is still better news than the original diagnosis and prognosis last autmn, it still leaves our dear relatives in constant limbo wondering from month to month if there has been or will be any spreading of this disease. Well, we can still pray and we will...that my husband's sister and brother in law can find a way to not obsess every moment about the dire possibilities...although how does one manage to do that without God's direct intervention? However, we are going to pray that by some miracle it can happen for them. Thank you to those of you who have been joining us in prayer.
And now, to take my mind off the family stress, I am going to choose one of my three somewhat dark and possibly somewhat depressing books and do some reading. If they are not exactly light and airy reads, they will at least be about something other than health issues; either my own or those of the rest of the family. I need to think about something else tonight.
Today in the mail came a delivery of the next book we are reading for our winter/spring session of ladies' book club: "Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World's Largest Religion" by Rebecca McLaughlin. Some of the chapter headings are: Aren't We Better Off Without Religion; Doesn't Christianity Crush Diversity; Isn't Christianity Homophobic; and Hasn't Science Disproved Christianity, among others. I am looking forward to getting started on it later this evening. Again though, not exactly a laugh filled reading experience.
Once I have completed the novel and the book club publication I am going to look for something to read that is strictly humorous!!
In other news, a few minutes ago we received an email from my husband's sister with news from her husband's pathology report. Unfortunately his cancer is a particularly aggressive one. However, it appears to have been contained to the one tumor that was removed along with his kidney. Often tumors confined to a kidney that are removed intact can leave the patient in need of no further treatment. However, due to the aggressive nature of this particular cancer, there will be further CT scans and other laboratory testing done in another couple of months. The situation will need to be closely monitored. While on the one hand, this is still better news than the original diagnosis and prognosis last autmn, it still leaves our dear relatives in constant limbo wondering from month to month if there has been or will be any spreading of this disease. Well, we can still pray and we will...that my husband's sister and brother in law can find a way to not obsess every moment about the dire possibilities...although how does one manage to do that without God's direct intervention? However, we are going to pray that by some miracle it can happen for them. Thank you to those of you who have been joining us in prayer.
And now, to take my mind off the family stress, I am going to choose one of my three somewhat dark and possibly somewhat depressing books and do some reading. If they are not exactly light and airy reads, they will at least be about something other than health issues; either my own or those of the rest of the family. I need to think about something else tonight.
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
This Week Is Just Busy Enough
This week has been encouraging and not only because the weather has improved so much since the last two weeks of deep freeze came to an end last evening. Today the streets are muddy slop due to the quickly melting snow as our temperature climbed to +1C this afternoon. The overnight temperatures are higher than -8C every night for the forecastable future and the day time highs no lower than -5C. YIPPEE!!!! Not quite an Alberta chinook but close enough for moi!
My Sunday routine was even better than usual because as I was heading into Cornwall Centre to order my Zam Zam's chicken shawarma salad, my husband texted me to say he was on his way back to the city and could he join me for lunch? What a lovely treat! He had some of Zam's amazing lentil soup and a small order of their falafal balls with tatziki sauce. We took our sweet time and shared our mutually satisfactory church service experiences over our meal, paid for by a gift from a generous parishioner of my husband's. How VERY kind!
We had a calm day on Monday. It was still cold during the day so we found all manner of excuses not to go too far from home. I did some errands and grocery shopping in the early morning and then hunkered down to some mending and cooking the rest of the day. A newly single friend came over last evening and we talked non-stop for 3 hours. We didn't know each other as well prior to last evening as we do now and it is so great to have a deeper level of friendship blooming. Talking about relationships and God and church and careers and God and mutual good friends and God...it was a great evening.
More errands this morning with my husband got us outside into the LOVELY WARM AIR! We were loathe to come home and go back inside! I was able to attend my ladies' prayer meeting this afternoon with no worry about my car not starting after sitting out on her street for several hours with the block heater unplugged.
Tomorrow I think I am going to have to do some laundry and have a catch up at home day....I could have done more home chores earlier this week, but the cold weather always leaves me exhausted and unmotivated. Time to get over that now and catch up on a few things that do not involve lazing out on the sofa in the living room alternately reading books and watching boxing on tv!
The following day I am taking Kat out for lunch for our celebration of her new "cancer free" status. We are also celebrating the fact that her sister just received pathology results on a tumor that turned out to be benign! Hallelujah! The tumor was in exactly the same spot as Kat's was when she got her most unfortunate cancer diagnosis, so there was a lot of concern about her sister. And, despite the release of over ten million dollars by the provincial government to reduce surgery wait times, Val is still awaiting her double hip replacement and continuing to be incapacitated by gruelling, cruel bouts of pain and seeing herself becoming completely addicted to narcotic pain killers. It is a travesty. Our Sunday morning study on suffering in the book of Job is something she is forcing herself to come out to, even on some of her high pain days, in an attempt to make some sense of what is happening to her. Her situation is unreal.
I talked to both my parents on the phone yesterday. Dad has decided that he is "disappointed with life" and has no plans to try to cheer up or accept with any relief or joy the amazing care he is receiving in the nursing home. I do understand it. I just feel so terrible that he is so unable to use the faith he expends in his prayers for others into his own situation to gain better peace of mind. He truly believes that God is working in the lives of other people, but he can't seem to grasp that God is with him too in active ways. It is a sad situation, but I can't do much about it except pray and try to encourage him as we talk. At this point he isn't having it, so....
Mom got her lab tests back yesterday from her doctor. There is no evidence of C-dif or cancer. There is evidence that she is taking too many mineral supplements, so he pulled her off all of them! She has a temporary medication to take until her symptoms clear up and she has been told that, since she likes cheese so much, she is only allowed to eat very old, very aged cheese! She told him she has a block of medium cheese at home and his response was, "I said OLD cheese!!" She got the picture. A wonderful family friend took her to her lab appointment and will be taking her to her eye injection appointment in the morning. We are everlastingly grateful to Bob!
I suppose both my parents are doing as well as can be expected these days, it is just so difficult to know they are both suffering in various ways that I cannot relieve for them. So, praying constantly when I think of them, is my default setting for dealing with the worry and stress. God can do so much more than I can when I am so far away.
Our son is walking on air now that he is back in New York. He has sufficient temporary work to get him through the next two or three months with a couple of artists he respects and that buys him enough time to look for something more permanent and closer to full time. He will be able to teach his course in Philadelphia now in the autumn and he is very excited about that. He sold two paintings at the largest show opening he he has ever had and a west coast art dealer he courted unsuccessfully when he still lived in Vancouver is now chasing him around, gave him a gallery tour of her premises while he was still in Vancouver and wants all the write ups sent to her of his spring show in New York. Then she "wants to talk". So, whether or not anything actually comes of that, he has had a ton of new interest in his work lately. He has decided that now that he has gotten his life straightened out, it is time to put his energy and attention into promoting his art and seems to have the energy and time to do it at last. His girlfriend flew to Vancouver from New York for the opening and that was a thrill for him. He had no problems crossing the border with his new visa so his parents were beyond relieved. Thank you Jesus that things are working out for him, at least for now.
No other news of note to report. My oral surgery and biopsy will take place in a week's time. Tomorrow my husband's brother in law will find out his pathology results from his recent cancer surgery and so we are in that limbo time of having some angst despite our trust in God, while we await the outcome of the testing. My husband' sister is likely incredibly stressed out of course. Once again, we feel way too far away from the family.
Well, we will concentrate on what is good in life this week.
My Sunday routine was even better than usual because as I was heading into Cornwall Centre to order my Zam Zam's chicken shawarma salad, my husband texted me to say he was on his way back to the city and could he join me for lunch? What a lovely treat! He had some of Zam's amazing lentil soup and a small order of their falafal balls with tatziki sauce. We took our sweet time and shared our mutually satisfactory church service experiences over our meal, paid for by a gift from a generous parishioner of my husband's. How VERY kind!
We had a calm day on Monday. It was still cold during the day so we found all manner of excuses not to go too far from home. I did some errands and grocery shopping in the early morning and then hunkered down to some mending and cooking the rest of the day. A newly single friend came over last evening and we talked non-stop for 3 hours. We didn't know each other as well prior to last evening as we do now and it is so great to have a deeper level of friendship blooming. Talking about relationships and God and church and careers and God and mutual good friends and God...it was a great evening.
More errands this morning with my husband got us outside into the LOVELY WARM AIR! We were loathe to come home and go back inside! I was able to attend my ladies' prayer meeting this afternoon with no worry about my car not starting after sitting out on her street for several hours with the block heater unplugged.
Tomorrow I think I am going to have to do some laundry and have a catch up at home day....I could have done more home chores earlier this week, but the cold weather always leaves me exhausted and unmotivated. Time to get over that now and catch up on a few things that do not involve lazing out on the sofa in the living room alternately reading books and watching boxing on tv!
The following day I am taking Kat out for lunch for our celebration of her new "cancer free" status. We are also celebrating the fact that her sister just received pathology results on a tumor that turned out to be benign! Hallelujah! The tumor was in exactly the same spot as Kat's was when she got her most unfortunate cancer diagnosis, so there was a lot of concern about her sister. And, despite the release of over ten million dollars by the provincial government to reduce surgery wait times, Val is still awaiting her double hip replacement and continuing to be incapacitated by gruelling, cruel bouts of pain and seeing herself becoming completely addicted to narcotic pain killers. It is a travesty. Our Sunday morning study on suffering in the book of Job is something she is forcing herself to come out to, even on some of her high pain days, in an attempt to make some sense of what is happening to her. Her situation is unreal.
I talked to both my parents on the phone yesterday. Dad has decided that he is "disappointed with life" and has no plans to try to cheer up or accept with any relief or joy the amazing care he is receiving in the nursing home. I do understand it. I just feel so terrible that he is so unable to use the faith he expends in his prayers for others into his own situation to gain better peace of mind. He truly believes that God is working in the lives of other people, but he can't seem to grasp that God is with him too in active ways. It is a sad situation, but I can't do much about it except pray and try to encourage him as we talk. At this point he isn't having it, so....
Mom got her lab tests back yesterday from her doctor. There is no evidence of C-dif or cancer. There is evidence that she is taking too many mineral supplements, so he pulled her off all of them! She has a temporary medication to take until her symptoms clear up and she has been told that, since she likes cheese so much, she is only allowed to eat very old, very aged cheese! She told him she has a block of medium cheese at home and his response was, "I said OLD cheese!!" She got the picture. A wonderful family friend took her to her lab appointment and will be taking her to her eye injection appointment in the morning. We are everlastingly grateful to Bob!
I suppose both my parents are doing as well as can be expected these days, it is just so difficult to know they are both suffering in various ways that I cannot relieve for them. So, praying constantly when I think of them, is my default setting for dealing with the worry and stress. God can do so much more than I can when I am so far away.
Our son is walking on air now that he is back in New York. He has sufficient temporary work to get him through the next two or three months with a couple of artists he respects and that buys him enough time to look for something more permanent and closer to full time. He will be able to teach his course in Philadelphia now in the autumn and he is very excited about that. He sold two paintings at the largest show opening he he has ever had and a west coast art dealer he courted unsuccessfully when he still lived in Vancouver is now chasing him around, gave him a gallery tour of her premises while he was still in Vancouver and wants all the write ups sent to her of his spring show in New York. Then she "wants to talk". So, whether or not anything actually comes of that, he has had a ton of new interest in his work lately. He has decided that now that he has gotten his life straightened out, it is time to put his energy and attention into promoting his art and seems to have the energy and time to do it at last. His girlfriend flew to Vancouver from New York for the opening and that was a thrill for him. He had no problems crossing the border with his new visa so his parents were beyond relieved. Thank you Jesus that things are working out for him, at least for now.
No other news of note to report. My oral surgery and biopsy will take place in a week's time. Tomorrow my husband's brother in law will find out his pathology results from his recent cancer surgery and so we are in that limbo time of having some angst despite our trust in God, while we await the outcome of the testing. My husband' sister is likely incredibly stressed out of course. Once again, we feel way too far away from the family.
Well, we will concentrate on what is good in life this week.
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Back In The U.S. of A. Yay!
Our son texted us twice today, once to say he had cleared customs at the airport with his new visa and again just monents ago from NYC at the airport. He was still awaiting his turn to get off the plane, but it had landed safely. Thank you, thank you praying friends. It seems he will be able to get on with his life now. At least he has some temporary work awaiting him that will keep him employed for a couple of months while he seeks more permanent full time employment.
Our book club meeting went very well today. Despite the continuing intense cold weather, we had 13 ladies in attendance. The brunch contributions were fabulous: date and raisin pudding, cheddar cheese in abundance, sausage bites, bran muffins, jam muffins, assorted fresh fruits and home made jellies, waffles with whipped cream and blueberry sauce, mimosas (which of course I can't have, but they looked fabulous), red pepper and spinach quiche, coconut lemon squares....ooh, it was tasty and such fun to see what each person brought to the feast. The discussion about the book went extremely well. Two of the ladies present know the author of the book so that added some extra depth and insight to our discussion. Maybe it was the attention we paid to eating our brunch slowly enough to savour every flavour, or maybe it was because we had such a lively literary discussion, or maybe it was because we had all travelled so far across the city on a freezing cold day we didn't want to face going outside again, but our noon wrap up time morphed into 1:45pm! What a great time we had! Here is our illustrious group:
Tomorrow morning it is off to church once again. I have my happy weekly personal retreat day to look forward to and that certainly makes up for having to wake up and head out so early on such a cold morning.
Hope everyone's weekend is going well.
Our book club meeting went very well today. Despite the continuing intense cold weather, we had 13 ladies in attendance. The brunch contributions were fabulous: date and raisin pudding, cheddar cheese in abundance, sausage bites, bran muffins, jam muffins, assorted fresh fruits and home made jellies, waffles with whipped cream and blueberry sauce, mimosas (which of course I can't have, but they looked fabulous), red pepper and spinach quiche, coconut lemon squares....ooh, it was tasty and such fun to see what each person brought to the feast. The discussion about the book went extremely well. Two of the ladies present know the author of the book so that added some extra depth and insight to our discussion. Maybe it was the attention we paid to eating our brunch slowly enough to savour every flavour, or maybe it was because we had such a lively literary discussion, or maybe it was because we had all travelled so far across the city on a freezing cold day we didn't want to face going outside again, but our noon wrap up time morphed into 1:45pm! What a great time we had! Here is our illustrious group:
Tomorrow morning it is off to church once again. I have my happy weekly personal retreat day to look forward to and that certainly makes up for having to wake up and head out so early on such a cold morning.
Hope everyone's weekend is going well.
Friday, January 17, 2020
The Day Didn't End Quite As Well As It Began!
What a crazy evening around here! As I was preparing my dinner, I accidentally squirted a big blob of mayonnaise into my bean salad instead of into the guacamole I was preparing. Yuck! Then I dumped half a bag of bean chips onto the floor, fortunately onto the kitchen linoleum and not into the carpet in the dining room, so it was easy to sweep up.
After dinner things got worse! I was loading the dishwasher, lost my grip on a heavy glass mug, dropped it onto my husband's favourite tea mug and one of the remaining drinking glasses from my own favourite set. Sigh....broken china and glass all through the dishwasher, all over the kitchen floor, in the sink....God bless my husband for being so calm after I smashed his most favourite, expensive china tea mug to smithereens!! I felt terrible!! Tomorrow afternoon I am going to go online and see if I can find one just like it: a classic white china mug with a flared, thin lip. Drinking tea out of the right kind of vessel is just as important as drinking wine from the proper stemware. Sigh...what a klutz!! My blue drinking glasses are definitely my faves and have been for years, but my clumsiness has slowly reduced their number. I started with a set of six and as of this evening I now have two left.
The next thing I did was try for a second time to get the tea and tomato sauce stains out of my favourite purple and white placemats. What a disaster. I think the fabric was actually treated with some kind of product to keep them looking starched. Whatever, all I know is that NONE of the stains came out. Not at all. Not one little bit. What a hideous mess on my wonderful, formerly elegant placemats used "only for company". I tried three different types of stain removers, all being completely useless. Finally I experimented with some bleach...didn't begin to remove the stains; didn't even lighten them. So, into the garbage they have gone. It breaks my heart. They were a loving gift from a new friend and I have only had them for less than a year, used them maybe eight times? Sigh.....
Oh well....sometimes life is like that.
On a happier note, I heard from Kat today. Her sister who had a serious surgery five weeks ago, resulting in the removal of several body parts and requiring a biopsy, got her pathology results this morning: nary a trace of any kind of cancer! After I stopped crying from relief, I "did the dance of joy" and rejoiced with Kat! What wonderful, positive news!
My mom is beginning her third week of digestive disruption, so tomorrow she is on her way to the lab in a cab to take in some specimens. I am wondering if she has C-dif...oh, I hope not. She has missed a very important eye injection now due to being so afraid to go out to the specialist to have it administered. She is scared that she will be ill in his office. So, we made a plan for her to follow in the event she has problems this coming week when the injection has been rescheduled. At least she is no longer afraid she is "bothering" me when she calls for help. I am finding various effective ways to talk her through whatever the problems or issues are that have come up since Dad went into long term care and I am so grateful for that. Things that are obvious to me, since I am not finding myself unexpectedly alone at the age of 92 and having to learn so many new things to keep myself going, are not obvious these days to my befuddled mother. Therefore it is a real blessing to be able to provide so much help from this distance away. Tonight I was able to get online and provide her with information she needs about the lab she is going to in the morning. That helped her to relax. Thank you Lord that thus far the problems have had easy solutions. The quarantine is over at Dad's facility so on Sunday she will go to visit him. It has been a couple of weeks since they have seen each other. Thank the Lord Dad is able to have a telephone in his room and they can talk every day. Monday she will return to her GP and report on her digestive issues. He should have her lab report by then and can see what the problem actually is.
I completed reading my book for the book club brunch meeting tomorrow morning. My brunch contribution to the meal is ready to go. I decided I should try starting the car today and run some errands so that I can have confidence it will start in the morning despite the still cold weather. There is a book club friend I have to drive to the meeting and since she is the discussion leader it is somewhat important that I get her there!
If the car refuses to start I won't get any help from my husband as he will be at his fourth early morning men's meeting of this week. hahahaha He is certainly enjoying hobnobbing with his friends and colleagues. I am very happy for him. I am also happy that his brother in law gave us a special battery charger at Christmas a couple of years ago. If the car won't start I have that to get it going.
This afternoon my husband was invited to go on a four day retreat with two of his ministry colleagues. As soon as they get the dates arranged, they will head off into some bush country to a retreat centre and spend time in prayer and meditation, outdoor relaxation and fellowship together. I am praying it comes about fairly soon as I think it would do my husband a world of good to spend that long with these particular ministry friends.
My husband has gone for two long walks in the bitter cold this week. He gets himself all decked out in his glacier climbing apparel and away he goes, almost completely oblivious to the freezing temperatures around him. I admire him. There is no amount of warm clothing that helps me cope out of doors in this weather! Asthma is a problem that can spot a blast of cold air from fifty paces and react accordingly!
Our son has had a crazy week in Vancouver. It is a good thing so many people came to his art show opening last weekend because the weather only went from bad to worse this week. The artist talk that he spent so much time preparing for a presentation at Emily Carr University of Art and Design on Wednesday was cancelled. The school was forced to close due to weather related transportation issues for the students. However, a friend of his who teaches there had him come back the following day to make the presentation to her own class, so all his work was not wasted. He was able to collect his visa papers with no problem, so tomorrow, Lord willing and the snow don't rise, he is flying back to NYC via Seattle. That should keep his flight out of the path of the inclement weather closer to Toronto...hopefully. At least he doesn't have to stop at Pearson International Airport this time as he is crossing the border at Washington State. However, I am praying very hard for him to get home safely and with no problems of any kind. At least with the customs being done now on the Canadian side of the border at the Vancouver airport, once he clears that he can just get on the plane and go!
Dad is doing well under the circumstances. He has decided he is never going to be happy, so he isn't and there is nothing anyone but he himself who can do anything about that. The group meeting with the doctor and other staff, Dad and Mom, was positive. They are taking excellent care of him, providing his meds properly and he has gained three pounds from eating decent food! His cholesterol was so low that he has been taken off the statins. He has had some side effects from them lately and the doctor doesn't want him to have to deal with those as they are particularly unpleasant.
No other news of note. I am glad I forced myself to go out and get a few groceries today, fill the car with gasoline and do some shovelling between the back porch and the parking lot. Activity is not the first thing on my mind in this cold weather, but it felt SO good once I got myself moving! Grand to get out despite the cold wind.
I seem to be developing a comfortable routine on Sundays. My husband drops me off early so I can attend the Sunday School class, then after church is over I stay for part of the coffee hour, then walk over to the Cornwall Centre area to do banking, go to the post office, shop for "stuff" if I need to, have my lunch and catch the bus home. Even in the very cold weather it is okay to walk as it isn't far into downtown from church. It is like a short retreat day just for myself. This weekend I am looking forward to doing it once again. However, I am not going to have lunch at Famoso's. I can't face the idea that I could end up with a lousy meal two weeks in a row. Instead I will go to the food fair at Cornwall Centre and have a salad from Zam Zam Wraps. It has been quite awhile since I have enjoyed one of their chicken shawarma salads....YUM! It's going to be a great day.
After dinner things got worse! I was loading the dishwasher, lost my grip on a heavy glass mug, dropped it onto my husband's favourite tea mug and one of the remaining drinking glasses from my own favourite set. Sigh....broken china and glass all through the dishwasher, all over the kitchen floor, in the sink....God bless my husband for being so calm after I smashed his most favourite, expensive china tea mug to smithereens!! I felt terrible!! Tomorrow afternoon I am going to go online and see if I can find one just like it: a classic white china mug with a flared, thin lip. Drinking tea out of the right kind of vessel is just as important as drinking wine from the proper stemware. Sigh...what a klutz!! My blue drinking glasses are definitely my faves and have been for years, but my clumsiness has slowly reduced their number. I started with a set of six and as of this evening I now have two left.
The next thing I did was try for a second time to get the tea and tomato sauce stains out of my favourite purple and white placemats. What a disaster. I think the fabric was actually treated with some kind of product to keep them looking starched. Whatever, all I know is that NONE of the stains came out. Not at all. Not one little bit. What a hideous mess on my wonderful, formerly elegant placemats used "only for company". I tried three different types of stain removers, all being completely useless. Finally I experimented with some bleach...didn't begin to remove the stains; didn't even lighten them. So, into the garbage they have gone. It breaks my heart. They were a loving gift from a new friend and I have only had them for less than a year, used them maybe eight times? Sigh.....
Oh well....sometimes life is like that.
On a happier note, I heard from Kat today. Her sister who had a serious surgery five weeks ago, resulting in the removal of several body parts and requiring a biopsy, got her pathology results this morning: nary a trace of any kind of cancer! After I stopped crying from relief, I "did the dance of joy" and rejoiced with Kat! What wonderful, positive news!
My mom is beginning her third week of digestive disruption, so tomorrow she is on her way to the lab in a cab to take in some specimens. I am wondering if she has C-dif...oh, I hope not. She has missed a very important eye injection now due to being so afraid to go out to the specialist to have it administered. She is scared that she will be ill in his office. So, we made a plan for her to follow in the event she has problems this coming week when the injection has been rescheduled. At least she is no longer afraid she is "bothering" me when she calls for help. I am finding various effective ways to talk her through whatever the problems or issues are that have come up since Dad went into long term care and I am so grateful for that. Things that are obvious to me, since I am not finding myself unexpectedly alone at the age of 92 and having to learn so many new things to keep myself going, are not obvious these days to my befuddled mother. Therefore it is a real blessing to be able to provide so much help from this distance away. Tonight I was able to get online and provide her with information she needs about the lab she is going to in the morning. That helped her to relax. Thank you Lord that thus far the problems have had easy solutions. The quarantine is over at Dad's facility so on Sunday she will go to visit him. It has been a couple of weeks since they have seen each other. Thank the Lord Dad is able to have a telephone in his room and they can talk every day. Monday she will return to her GP and report on her digestive issues. He should have her lab report by then and can see what the problem actually is.
I completed reading my book for the book club brunch meeting tomorrow morning. My brunch contribution to the meal is ready to go. I decided I should try starting the car today and run some errands so that I can have confidence it will start in the morning despite the still cold weather. There is a book club friend I have to drive to the meeting and since she is the discussion leader it is somewhat important that I get her there!
If the car refuses to start I won't get any help from my husband as he will be at his fourth early morning men's meeting of this week. hahahaha He is certainly enjoying hobnobbing with his friends and colleagues. I am very happy for him. I am also happy that his brother in law gave us a special battery charger at Christmas a couple of years ago. If the car won't start I have that to get it going.
This afternoon my husband was invited to go on a four day retreat with two of his ministry colleagues. As soon as they get the dates arranged, they will head off into some bush country to a retreat centre and spend time in prayer and meditation, outdoor relaxation and fellowship together. I am praying it comes about fairly soon as I think it would do my husband a world of good to spend that long with these particular ministry friends.
My husband has gone for two long walks in the bitter cold this week. He gets himself all decked out in his glacier climbing apparel and away he goes, almost completely oblivious to the freezing temperatures around him. I admire him. There is no amount of warm clothing that helps me cope out of doors in this weather! Asthma is a problem that can spot a blast of cold air from fifty paces and react accordingly!
Our son has had a crazy week in Vancouver. It is a good thing so many people came to his art show opening last weekend because the weather only went from bad to worse this week. The artist talk that he spent so much time preparing for a presentation at Emily Carr University of Art and Design on Wednesday was cancelled. The school was forced to close due to weather related transportation issues for the students. However, a friend of his who teaches there had him come back the following day to make the presentation to her own class, so all his work was not wasted. He was able to collect his visa papers with no problem, so tomorrow, Lord willing and the snow don't rise, he is flying back to NYC via Seattle. That should keep his flight out of the path of the inclement weather closer to Toronto...hopefully. At least he doesn't have to stop at Pearson International Airport this time as he is crossing the border at Washington State. However, I am praying very hard for him to get home safely and with no problems of any kind. At least with the customs being done now on the Canadian side of the border at the Vancouver airport, once he clears that he can just get on the plane and go!
Dad is doing well under the circumstances. He has decided he is never going to be happy, so he isn't and there is nothing anyone but he himself who can do anything about that. The group meeting with the doctor and other staff, Dad and Mom, was positive. They are taking excellent care of him, providing his meds properly and he has gained three pounds from eating decent food! His cholesterol was so low that he has been taken off the statins. He has had some side effects from them lately and the doctor doesn't want him to have to deal with those as they are particularly unpleasant.
No other news of note. I am glad I forced myself to go out and get a few groceries today, fill the car with gasoline and do some shovelling between the back porch and the parking lot. Activity is not the first thing on my mind in this cold weather, but it felt SO good once I got myself moving! Grand to get out despite the cold wind.
I seem to be developing a comfortable routine on Sundays. My husband drops me off early so I can attend the Sunday School class, then after church is over I stay for part of the coffee hour, then walk over to the Cornwall Centre area to do banking, go to the post office, shop for "stuff" if I need to, have my lunch and catch the bus home. Even in the very cold weather it is okay to walk as it isn't far into downtown from church. It is like a short retreat day just for myself. This weekend I am looking forward to doing it once again. However, I am not going to have lunch at Famoso's. I can't face the idea that I could end up with a lousy meal two weeks in a row. Instead I will go to the food fair at Cornwall Centre and have a salad from Zam Zam Wraps. It has been quite awhile since I have enjoyed one of their chicken shawarma salads....YUM! It's going to be a great day.
Thursday, January 16, 2020
English Labelling On Foreign Products
My husband picked up a package of whole grain rice noodles at one of the oriental groceries this week. We have so enjoyed reading the English labelling on the package:
1. Origin of Product: Raw materials are selected from pure rice. Production by automatic machines, advanced technology, drying on the line closed.
2. Guide to Use: Put vermicelli in the boiling water from 5 to 7 minutes. (Try vermicelli strands pressing, soft is fine.), then fish out, drain. It will get the same quality as fresh vermicelli.........
We are picturing the people who are responsible for creating the English translations, palm translators in hand....they really did their best attempt on the above English and if you think for a few seconds about what they came up with, it actually all makes sense.
1. Origin of Product: Raw materials are selected from pure rice. Production by automatic machines, advanced technology, drying on the line closed.
2. Guide to Use: Put vermicelli in the boiling water from 5 to 7 minutes. (Try vermicelli strands pressing, soft is fine.), then fish out, drain. It will get the same quality as fresh vermicelli.........
We are picturing the people who are responsible for creating the English translations, palm translators in hand....they really did their best attempt on the above English and if you think for a few seconds about what they came up with, it actually all makes sense.
Etcetera
Last night’s dinner party: not a howling success to be honest. We wanted to have my minister’s family over so that he and my husband would have one of their beloved but very rare chances to visit, but that didn’t work out. He called a few minutes before they were to arrive to let us know their furnace had died at some point that day, so his family was still coming over to get warm, but he would have to stay home to wait for the furnace repair people. His family was on their way. So, I started cooking the pasta component of the dinner with the idea that they could get hot food into their freezing selves as soon as they arrived; but they didn’t arrive...not until the pasta was over cooked and the entire dinner main dish was dried out and horrible. Sigh.... God bless them, they ate it anyway, two helpings each. The hummus was a big hit with one of the kids and he ate an entire cereal bowl full, gleefully scooping it up on butter slathered crackers! The wee girl declared my simple dessert “magnificent” and I almost kissed her in gratitude. The other boy manfully attempted to eat his dessert, but unfortunately he has a psychological issue with the texture of bananas, much like I have with mushrooms, and nearly gagged to death trying to swallow the first bite. I quietly removed his plate so he wouldn’t have to even look at the remaining offensive banana and the rest of us carried on eating. I was so upset at this point that my chronic “stress clumsiness” took over and I managed to knock over one of the kid’s cup of tea. Fortunately the scalding water did not land on him, but one of my best placemats is likely forever ruined by the giant tea stain. Sigh... it is still soaking in stain remover. The good thing is that I had my first genuine conversation with my minister’s wife since I started attending the church. That was great. The kids are reserved, but very articulate and very well behaved....and very hygienic: before they sat down to eat they lined up at the kitchen sink and scrubbed their hands with hot water and soap for such a long time that I wondered if I should call in a lifeguard! They also set their snowboots in a tidy line by the back door so I wouldn’t trip over them while trying to get our ruined dinner onto the table. Ten out of ten to them for eating it at all!
I spent two hours after they went home, to a newly working furnace, cleaning up. Soaking the other placemats that had tea splatter around the edges, scraping hardened pasta from pots, vacuuming up cracker crumbs from under the hummus enthusiast’s chair, wiping burnt yogurt from the stovetop....how on earth did the yogurt end up on the stovetop???? I wasn’t anywhere near the stove when I prepared dessert! No, I was NOT!
Finally my minister texted the good news that a temporary fix on the furnace was bringing in some heat. The house temperature has been +9C when the family arrived here! Brrrrrrr.... The bad news was the furnace is kaput, so over four thousand dollars later, a new furnace will be installed. Yoiks!
I thought MY evening had gone badly!
Next week a relatively new acquaintance is coming over for a visit. I would appreciate prayer from those of you who are into praying. She is becoming involved in a pseudo Christian cult that I happen to be personally very familiar with. I was part of it years ago. Please pray that God will direct our conversation and give me the right words for her. I don’t think giving her an impassioned speech about the dangers of it will carry much weight. She is all ready in too deeply. However, if God can use me at all, I pray he would be able to somehow.
Another bitterly cold day is upon us. The windchill is presently -47C. I assume there will be no mail delivery again today. I am so grateful my husband and I have no commitments anywhere today. I am going to call a friend in Ontario this afternoon and spend the rest of the day completing a book for our book club brunch on Saturday.
I spent two hours after they went home, to a newly working furnace, cleaning up. Soaking the other placemats that had tea splatter around the edges, scraping hardened pasta from pots, vacuuming up cracker crumbs from under the hummus enthusiast’s chair, wiping burnt yogurt from the stovetop....how on earth did the yogurt end up on the stovetop???? I wasn’t anywhere near the stove when I prepared dessert! No, I was NOT!
Finally my minister texted the good news that a temporary fix on the furnace was bringing in some heat. The house temperature has been +9C when the family arrived here! Brrrrrrr.... The bad news was the furnace is kaput, so over four thousand dollars later, a new furnace will be installed. Yoiks!
I thought MY evening had gone badly!
Next week a relatively new acquaintance is coming over for a visit. I would appreciate prayer from those of you who are into praying. She is becoming involved in a pseudo Christian cult that I happen to be personally very familiar with. I was part of it years ago. Please pray that God will direct our conversation and give me the right words for her. I don’t think giving her an impassioned speech about the dangers of it will carry much weight. She is all ready in too deeply. However, if God can use me at all, I pray he would be able to somehow.
Another bitterly cold day is upon us. The windchill is presently -47C. I assume there will be no mail delivery again today. I am so grateful my husband and I have no commitments anywhere today. I am going to call a friend in Ontario this afternoon and spend the rest of the day completing a book for our book club brunch on Saturday.
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Soooooo Cold That......
.....there has been no postal delivery at all yet this week. I am happy for the delivery people that they do not have to be outside doing door to door delivery in -33C temperatures with windchills of -40C or worse, but since I am awaiting two cheques I can’t help hoping the weather will warm up a bit soon. One of the cheques is for a painting my son sold last month and he needs it to pay his February rent! I pray it will arrive here in time for me to deposit it for him by the end of the month.
I have been making good progress getting the suite properly cleaned after my nearly month long holiday from many house chores. It feels good to be active again, as I was getting pretty lazy. Today I will finish up the last of the cleaning and then put my attention into getting tonight’s dinner prepared for our company. If everyone is able to come there will be seven of us; quite a strain on our wee dining room space and furniture. It will be cozy, to say the least. haha
Yesterday I braved the cold and went to weekly prayer meeting. Only the hostess and myself were there due to illnesses with the other members, but the two of us had a great time anyway. When I left she handed me a bag of freshly butchered beef containing hamburger and sirloin steaks. Wow! Her neighbours have a ranch and every year they give my friend a side of beef, far more than the two of them can eat. How kind of her to share the bounty. I took my last package of meat out of the freezer yesterday morning to start it thawing for tonight’s meal and was dreading the drive to SaveOn for meat during the rush hour after the prayer meeting yesterday, so her gift was not only generous but timely as well. Thank you Lord. Instead of trekking across the city I was able to go to my neighbourhood grocery to pick up the other groceries for this evening and get home quickly.
My husband walked to his Tuesday morning group and back clad in his warmest glacier climbing gear. This morning’s men’s breakfast is much farther away and he has a clerical meeting at noon, so he may put his carbon footprint reduction ideals aside this morning and take the car to his meetings. I hope so. If he does that much walking in such bitterly cold weather he will be too exhausted to enjoy our dinner guests.
My husband’s brother-in-law gets his post surgical cancer test results a week from today. I have my surgery and biopsy in thirteen days. Our family is praying lots. I find myself teetering on the edge of crabbiness as I wait, even though I am not conscious of being stressed about either of these situations.
Other than that, all is well.
I have been making good progress getting the suite properly cleaned after my nearly month long holiday from many house chores. It feels good to be active again, as I was getting pretty lazy. Today I will finish up the last of the cleaning and then put my attention into getting tonight’s dinner prepared for our company. If everyone is able to come there will be seven of us; quite a strain on our wee dining room space and furniture. It will be cozy, to say the least. haha
Yesterday I braved the cold and went to weekly prayer meeting. Only the hostess and myself were there due to illnesses with the other members, but the two of us had a great time anyway. When I left she handed me a bag of freshly butchered beef containing hamburger and sirloin steaks. Wow! Her neighbours have a ranch and every year they give my friend a side of beef, far more than the two of them can eat. How kind of her to share the bounty. I took my last package of meat out of the freezer yesterday morning to start it thawing for tonight’s meal and was dreading the drive to SaveOn for meat during the rush hour after the prayer meeting yesterday, so her gift was not only generous but timely as well. Thank you Lord. Instead of trekking across the city I was able to go to my neighbourhood grocery to pick up the other groceries for this evening and get home quickly.
My husband walked to his Tuesday morning group and back clad in his warmest glacier climbing gear. This morning’s men’s breakfast is much farther away and he has a clerical meeting at noon, so he may put his carbon footprint reduction ideals aside this morning and take the car to his meetings. I hope so. If he does that much walking in such bitterly cold weather he will be too exhausted to enjoy our dinner guests.
My husband’s brother-in-law gets his post surgical cancer test results a week from today. I have my surgery and biopsy in thirteen days. Our family is praying lots. I find myself teetering on the edge of crabbiness as I wait, even though I am not conscious of being stressed about either of these situations.
Other than that, all is well.
Monday, January 13, 2020
My Own Little Worship Time
I have been feeling a tad emotional these days. There have been some joyous answers to prayer in our family, there are still some outstanding issues that may end unhappily. While there has been an easing of turmoil in some ways, there has been growing turmoil in others.
We spent Saturday at home watching the snow blowing past our windows and shivering as the howling wind pounded at our building. We felt the temperature dropping and the furnace clicked on numerous times throughout the day. We could see the wee light glowing on the connector chord attached to the block heater in our car, letting us know that the electricity required to start the car later on in the evening was flowing and running up our power bill. The arrival, finally, of true prairie winter weather was downright depressing, thus we gave in to the desire to hibernate.
Fortunately, we had to rouse ourselves to go out for a birthday dinner with some church friends. Off came the Mark’s Comfy Robe and on went some dressy, celebrating clothes and off into the cold of the evening we went. Several hours later, sated with Portuguese wines, rare flank steak with caper sauce, crispy potato wedges with mayo, bean sprout salad and citrus raisin pie, we wheelbarrowed out tummies back out into the now cold vehicle and wended our way home through the snow drifting across the roads. Fortunately the company of our friends was warmer than the outside temperature.
Yesterday morning it took every ounce of effort available to force ourselves to wake up and prepare for an even colder start to the day. We seem to be adjusting rather poorly to the winter this year. We forced ourselves to get dressed, managed to clear the overnight accumulation of snow from the vehicle and set off for church.
Getting ready wasn’t particularly successful for me. I dragged myself through breakfast at snail’s pace and was late getting ready to leave. My husband was putting on his coat and boots to go outside to start the car while I was still in my pj’s, so I had to grab an outfit and toss it on. As I was pulling on warm winter pants I realized one of the waistband buttons had fallen off, so I pulled the band together using the one remaining button and prayed they would stay up. The matching sweater I had not worn before turned out to be 100% wool, so the itching began within seconds. No time to find a replacement. The matching suit jacket that I grabbed quickly in a store one day long ago without trying it on, turned out to be a size too small so I had to leave it unbuttoned. O dear Lord...droopy pants, itchy wool, an ill fitting jacket, no time to shower.....ye gods, what a disaster. Off I went to church.
My husband dropped me off at the church door before taking himself off through the snowdrifts on the highway to get to his own service. I slunk into the church feeling grubby and itchy and miserable. However, I was there so early that there were only four other people around and they were all downstairs in the fellowship hall. The church sanctuary was still in semi darkness and seemed to be beckoning me inside. So, I wandered in, sat down at the end of a pew and prayed awhile about some of our family and employment issues. The grand piano was sitting at the front of the sanctuary and I felt a strong urge to sneak up there and play it. So, I did. I played a hymn. I stopped and looked around to see if anyone was storming into the sanctuary to see who was using the piano unannounced, but no one came. No one heard me, so I played another hymn. The piano is slightly out of tune, but that was okay. The experience in the sanctuary only lasted about ten minutes but it made me feel better. I was able to get through our Sunday school session on Job without bursting into tears over the poor man’s plight.
After church I had some business to do downtown, so pulled up the wonderfully warm hood on my winter coat and stumbled off through the snow and ice for the four block walk. I was hungry, so after running my errand I stepped into Famoso’s for a bowl of tomato bisque and a salad. Oh dear....there appears to be a new franchise owner and all new staff at that location. For the first time I had a dreadful meal there. The bisque was great as always, but the flatbread was burnt black around the edges and the Caesar salad lettuce was every shade of brown and slathered with a gooey, cheesy dressing. Blecch! There was so much ice in my diet soda that even with a refill I doubt I had more than half a glass of actual soda in total. Oh well...I didn’t bother to ask for replacement food because I waited 20 minutes for the first sorry mess and didn’t want to miss my bus home. The bus runs only once per hour on Sundays.
Once I got home it was time to strip off the disaster outfit and crawl into the tub for a hot shower. Aaaaahhhhhh.....much better! I spent the rest of the day ironing, watching boxing on tv and visiting with my husband; all good things, but the highlight of the day was that short time of personal worship in the darkness of the sanctuary...a true blessing!
We spent Saturday at home watching the snow blowing past our windows and shivering as the howling wind pounded at our building. We felt the temperature dropping and the furnace clicked on numerous times throughout the day. We could see the wee light glowing on the connector chord attached to the block heater in our car, letting us know that the electricity required to start the car later on in the evening was flowing and running up our power bill. The arrival, finally, of true prairie winter weather was downright depressing, thus we gave in to the desire to hibernate.
Fortunately, we had to rouse ourselves to go out for a birthday dinner with some church friends. Off came the Mark’s Comfy Robe and on went some dressy, celebrating clothes and off into the cold of the evening we went. Several hours later, sated with Portuguese wines, rare flank steak with caper sauce, crispy potato wedges with mayo, bean sprout salad and citrus raisin pie, we wheelbarrowed out tummies back out into the now cold vehicle and wended our way home through the snow drifting across the roads. Fortunately the company of our friends was warmer than the outside temperature.
Yesterday morning it took every ounce of effort available to force ourselves to wake up and prepare for an even colder start to the day. We seem to be adjusting rather poorly to the winter this year. We forced ourselves to get dressed, managed to clear the overnight accumulation of snow from the vehicle and set off for church.
Getting ready wasn’t particularly successful for me. I dragged myself through breakfast at snail’s pace and was late getting ready to leave. My husband was putting on his coat and boots to go outside to start the car while I was still in my pj’s, so I had to grab an outfit and toss it on. As I was pulling on warm winter pants I realized one of the waistband buttons had fallen off, so I pulled the band together using the one remaining button and prayed they would stay up. The matching sweater I had not worn before turned out to be 100% wool, so the itching began within seconds. No time to find a replacement. The matching suit jacket that I grabbed quickly in a store one day long ago without trying it on, turned out to be a size too small so I had to leave it unbuttoned. O dear Lord...droopy pants, itchy wool, an ill fitting jacket, no time to shower.....ye gods, what a disaster. Off I went to church.
My husband dropped me off at the church door before taking himself off through the snowdrifts on the highway to get to his own service. I slunk into the church feeling grubby and itchy and miserable. However, I was there so early that there were only four other people around and they were all downstairs in the fellowship hall. The church sanctuary was still in semi darkness and seemed to be beckoning me inside. So, I wandered in, sat down at the end of a pew and prayed awhile about some of our family and employment issues. The grand piano was sitting at the front of the sanctuary and I felt a strong urge to sneak up there and play it. So, I did. I played a hymn. I stopped and looked around to see if anyone was storming into the sanctuary to see who was using the piano unannounced, but no one came. No one heard me, so I played another hymn. The piano is slightly out of tune, but that was okay. The experience in the sanctuary only lasted about ten minutes but it made me feel better. I was able to get through our Sunday school session on Job without bursting into tears over the poor man’s plight.
After church I had some business to do downtown, so pulled up the wonderfully warm hood on my winter coat and stumbled off through the snow and ice for the four block walk. I was hungry, so after running my errand I stepped into Famoso’s for a bowl of tomato bisque and a salad. Oh dear....there appears to be a new franchise owner and all new staff at that location. For the first time I had a dreadful meal there. The bisque was great as always, but the flatbread was burnt black around the edges and the Caesar salad lettuce was every shade of brown and slathered with a gooey, cheesy dressing. Blecch! There was so much ice in my diet soda that even with a refill I doubt I had more than half a glass of actual soda in total. Oh well...I didn’t bother to ask for replacement food because I waited 20 minutes for the first sorry mess and didn’t want to miss my bus home. The bus runs only once per hour on Sundays.
Once I got home it was time to strip off the disaster outfit and crawl into the tub for a hot shower. Aaaaahhhhhh.....much better! I spent the rest of the day ironing, watching boxing on tv and visiting with my husband; all good things, but the highlight of the day was that short time of personal worship in the darkness of the sanctuary...a true blessing!
Friday, January 10, 2020
New Neighbours Next Door
We arrived home yesterday to discover new neighbours living in the suite next to us that was only emptied a few days before we left. When the clean up crews arrived to quickly after the last family moved out, we suspected there would not be any lag time in the rental.
When the weather improves we will go next door and introduce ourselves to the new neighbour(s?). There is a younger woman living there who seems to be at home most of the day. This morning at 2am a fellow arrived, possibly a partner who works a very late shift at work (?) and so we heard the conversation out on the back deck and the doors slamming as he came into the suite. I would not have heard much of their late night/early morning visiting had I not had to use the washroom at 2:30am. The living room sounds waft up the stairway and are heard in our place due to the open spaces in the plumbing stack.
Apart from some of the louder converstations held close to the weakest spots in the soundproofing in the walls and the occasional thump of music that makes its way into our place, our first day with the new tenant next door has gone pretty well. There has of course been more noise than we are used to simply because the last family living next door to us was sent directly by God from heaven just to bless us personally, but if there isn't much more noise with the new tenant than there has been last night and today, I think we can cope. So far there is no evidence of any smoking, although if people smoke on the deck in the summer it is going to be a real problem for me. However, I will worry about that if and when it happens. Our one concern is that one of this woman's visitors today is the same fellow from across the court who we had to call the police about a few weeks ago. Sigh....dear Lord, let this situation work out for us all.
I can't say much more about the woman and the young fellow visitors she had over most of the day today because it is too hard to say one single word that wouldn't leave me open to being accused of racial profiling. You can't even mention a person's nationality these days, even if it is obviously being mentioned because you are simply interested in people of a different ethicity and culture without others, who don't even know you or the people being discussed, jumping to ignorant and incorrect inclusions, so I will say no more.
In other news: There was another mistake on Mom's phone bill that this week, so she is becoming quite aggressive about getting these issues straightened out on her own, since Dad's facility is on full lock down and he can't help her this time. I am so proud of her. She is ticked off now about the slovenly work done by the billing department at Shaw Communications and is determined to keep pestering them until everything is straightened out properly! Yay, way to go Mom!!
Our son's girlfriend was able to fly into Vancouver late last night, right before the really bad weather hit early this morning on the west coast. It was raining and snowing so hard today that the hotel they are staying in gave them umbrellas to use to get around the city. Tonight she is helping our son finish his art installation for the opening of the show tomorrow afternoon. If this weather doesn't ease up it isn't going to be much of an opening party. Few people are likely to brave the weather unless they are very good friends with our son and are willing to brave the cold and freezing rain to attend. O well...the exhibition is on for three months, so there will be time for people to see the paintings even if they miss the opening gala. (and Lord, if anyone could purchase any of those paintings....)
A friend from Vancouver Island called me tonight and told me about the very cold weather there. It doesn't have to get all that cold there to feel like the arctic! The humidity coupled with colder than usual air temperatures has always made me very ill when I have spent any considerable amount of time there during the winter months.
We spent a lot of today hibernating due to the horribly cold weather. I managed to get the car started this morning after only a couple of hours of it being plugged in and off I went to do banking and purchase groceries. Brrrrr, brrrr and double, triple brrrr..... Oh, I was ever so happy to complete my errands and return home. Tonight I am sitting in my Mark's Comfy Robe and basking in the coziness of it. We watched a few shows we taped while we were away, enjoying particularly two programmes in the Love Nature series "Wild Japan". The first one was about Hokkaido's isolated north east corner and the second was about some of the remaning wild land on the main island of Honshu. I am still determined to find a way to afford to subscribe to that channel. During the free preview month in December I watched that channel more than any other.
Tomorrow I must do the laundry! After 9 days away we have quite a pile of clothes needing a good cleaning. Maybe after my long, cold bus ride home after church on Sunday I will feel the need to warm up by ironing all those clothes!
Sunday morning my husband will drop me off at church before whisking himself away to his own parish. Our adult Sunday School class is going to be on the book of Job in the Old Testament. It is my favourite bible book of all time. The course will be led by our newest pastoral staff member. He did a thesis on Job not that many years ago, so I am anxious to enjoy the fruits of his scholarship. I am NOT anxious to face the 4 block walk to my bus stop after church and the cold ride home on public transportation! hahaha
Monday a dear friend is coming to visit in the morning and then I am going to start tackling the task of giving this suite a deep cleaning! It has hardly been cleaned properly since our son arrived a month ago! I am still finding evidence of his messy cooking style in obscure nooks and crannies in my kitchen! hahaha Good thing the quality of the final outcome gave me impetus to forgive him immediately for all the splatters. As his aunt said to me after he cooked a meal for her in Edmonton earlier this week, "His mess IS rather spectacular!"
Wednesday our lead pastor and his family are coming over to have dinner with us. I want to cook something really, really tasty that they will enjoy, but that doesn't leave me filled with dread about my success as a cook before I even begin preparing the meal. Something will occur to me by then, I am sure.
It will be interesting to see what this weekend brings with our new neighbour(s) and with the weather and with the various gatherings to which we have committed ourselves.
When the weather improves we will go next door and introduce ourselves to the new neighbour(s?). There is a younger woman living there who seems to be at home most of the day. This morning at 2am a fellow arrived, possibly a partner who works a very late shift at work (?) and so we heard the conversation out on the back deck and the doors slamming as he came into the suite. I would not have heard much of their late night/early morning visiting had I not had to use the washroom at 2:30am. The living room sounds waft up the stairway and are heard in our place due to the open spaces in the plumbing stack.
Apart from some of the louder converstations held close to the weakest spots in the soundproofing in the walls and the occasional thump of music that makes its way into our place, our first day with the new tenant next door has gone pretty well. There has of course been more noise than we are used to simply because the last family living next door to us was sent directly by God from heaven just to bless us personally, but if there isn't much more noise with the new tenant than there has been last night and today, I think we can cope. So far there is no evidence of any smoking, although if people smoke on the deck in the summer it is going to be a real problem for me. However, I will worry about that if and when it happens. Our one concern is that one of this woman's visitors today is the same fellow from across the court who we had to call the police about a few weeks ago. Sigh....dear Lord, let this situation work out for us all.
I can't say much more about the woman and the young fellow visitors she had over most of the day today because it is too hard to say one single word that wouldn't leave me open to being accused of racial profiling. You can't even mention a person's nationality these days, even if it is obviously being mentioned because you are simply interested in people of a different ethicity and culture without others, who don't even know you or the people being discussed, jumping to ignorant and incorrect inclusions, so I will say no more.
In other news: There was another mistake on Mom's phone bill that this week, so she is becoming quite aggressive about getting these issues straightened out on her own, since Dad's facility is on full lock down and he can't help her this time. I am so proud of her. She is ticked off now about the slovenly work done by the billing department at Shaw Communications and is determined to keep pestering them until everything is straightened out properly! Yay, way to go Mom!!
Our son's girlfriend was able to fly into Vancouver late last night, right before the really bad weather hit early this morning on the west coast. It was raining and snowing so hard today that the hotel they are staying in gave them umbrellas to use to get around the city. Tonight she is helping our son finish his art installation for the opening of the show tomorrow afternoon. If this weather doesn't ease up it isn't going to be much of an opening party. Few people are likely to brave the weather unless they are very good friends with our son and are willing to brave the cold and freezing rain to attend. O well...the exhibition is on for three months, so there will be time for people to see the paintings even if they miss the opening gala. (and Lord, if anyone could purchase any of those paintings....)
A friend from Vancouver Island called me tonight and told me about the very cold weather there. It doesn't have to get all that cold there to feel like the arctic! The humidity coupled with colder than usual air temperatures has always made me very ill when I have spent any considerable amount of time there during the winter months.
We spent a lot of today hibernating due to the horribly cold weather. I managed to get the car started this morning after only a couple of hours of it being plugged in and off I went to do banking and purchase groceries. Brrrrr, brrrr and double, triple brrrr..... Oh, I was ever so happy to complete my errands and return home. Tonight I am sitting in my Mark's Comfy Robe and basking in the coziness of it. We watched a few shows we taped while we were away, enjoying particularly two programmes in the Love Nature series "Wild Japan". The first one was about Hokkaido's isolated north east corner and the second was about some of the remaning wild land on the main island of Honshu. I am still determined to find a way to afford to subscribe to that channel. During the free preview month in December I watched that channel more than any other.
Tomorrow I must do the laundry! After 9 days away we have quite a pile of clothes needing a good cleaning. Maybe after my long, cold bus ride home after church on Sunday I will feel the need to warm up by ironing all those clothes!
Sunday morning my husband will drop me off at church before whisking himself away to his own parish. Our adult Sunday School class is going to be on the book of Job in the Old Testament. It is my favourite bible book of all time. The course will be led by our newest pastoral staff member. He did a thesis on Job not that many years ago, so I am anxious to enjoy the fruits of his scholarship. I am NOT anxious to face the 4 block walk to my bus stop after church and the cold ride home on public transportation! hahaha
Monday a dear friend is coming to visit in the morning and then I am going to start tackling the task of giving this suite a deep cleaning! It has hardly been cleaned properly since our son arrived a month ago! I am still finding evidence of his messy cooking style in obscure nooks and crannies in my kitchen! hahaha Good thing the quality of the final outcome gave me impetus to forgive him immediately for all the splatters. As his aunt said to me after he cooked a meal for her in Edmonton earlier this week, "His mess IS rather spectacular!"
Wednesday our lead pastor and his family are coming over to have dinner with us. I want to cook something really, really tasty that they will enjoy, but that doesn't leave me filled with dread about my success as a cook before I even begin preparing the meal. Something will occur to me by then, I am sure.
It will be interesting to see what this weekend brings with our new neighbour(s) and with the weather and with the various gatherings to which we have committed ourselves.
Thursday, January 9, 2020
How Great It Is.....
.....to be at home with the prospect of sleeping in my own bed tonight after 9 days away. YES!!
We had a good trip back to Regina from Medicine Hat today. We slept in, we ate breakfast in a leisurely manner, finally getting on the road at 9:30am...VERY late for us when we are travelling anywhere. While we sometimes travelled under very dark clouds that dropped a bit of snow all around us, the wind was SO very gusty that the clouds were travelling at an amazing rate of speed. None of the snow systems affected us much, apart from a few short sections of blowing snow that didn't stick at all to the highway because of the bitterly cold air temperature. There was no melting and sticking today, that is for certain. It was a great trip. Since we ate breakfast rather late and we only had a 4.5 hour trip home, we didn't stop for lunch. The earliest we could have stopped to keep me on my diabetic meal time schedule would have been in Moose Jaw: 40 minutes from my own home! Instead, when we stopped to fill the car with gasoline in Swift Current, we rooted out a couple of muffins and a nut bar and had an 11:30am snack that carried me right through until after 4:30pm, when I finally felt like eating again. Another small snack at 8:30pm will carry me over until breakfast tomorrow.
On the way into Regina we stopped at Kat's to pick up the mail she so graciously collected for us in our absence. Then we drove to the grocery store for a few items that will see us through if it is too cold to go shopping tomorrow. Then on to the post office for me to pick up the parcel my son mailed to me for Christmas: two art books that will provide me with no end of fun over the coming weeks.
Finally we cruised into our own parking lot and lo and behold, Kat had been over to our place this morning for a final mail run and shoveled the deep snow drifts off our back deck and steps, plus a path across the lawn to our parking spot so we would have an easier time unloading the car! Can you believe it??? This sort of costly kindness on her part is why so many people love and pray for her. She doesn't know how NOT to give to others!!!
I confess I did not unpack right away, as is my usual habit. We walked into a hornet's nest of phone messages needing attention after our absence, a slue of ministry related calls from the diocese for my husband came in before our boots and coats were even put away, we needed to call Dad on his 93rd birthday immediately before he had to get ready for the dispensary and then onto the dining room for dinner and on and on it went. Mom also called. We received two dinner invitations within minutes of walking into the house with our grocery bags....all wonderful "stuff" but by the time we got through the calls and read the mail and got all the suitcases, mattresses and bedding and food totes and coolers back into the house we were exhausted! So, we spent our evening slouching around on the sofa watching tv and updating our computers.
Finally I feel ready to go to sleep for the night, now that it is after 11pm. My body is still on Alberta time, an hour earlier than here in Saskatchewan and it has taken me awhile to feel truly tired. However, I am now unpacked, the laundry is in the basket for doing tomorrow afternoon. I will brave the deep freeze in the morning to go to the bank and pay some bills.
Just knowing that life is returning to a routine of sorts is kind of comforting to be honest. I am losing my taste for the process of travelling to other destinations. It is wonderful to be in other places than home, but I am finding the actual travel to get to them is becoming more of a chore. I used to find the route as much fun as the destination, but now it is just a pain driving for hours to get somewhere. Flying is even worse with flight delays, random security checks, lost baggage....yup, I am getting too old to enjoy this process any more. Old age..that has to be the reason, right?
We had a good trip back to Regina from Medicine Hat today. We slept in, we ate breakfast in a leisurely manner, finally getting on the road at 9:30am...VERY late for us when we are travelling anywhere. While we sometimes travelled under very dark clouds that dropped a bit of snow all around us, the wind was SO very gusty that the clouds were travelling at an amazing rate of speed. None of the snow systems affected us much, apart from a few short sections of blowing snow that didn't stick at all to the highway because of the bitterly cold air temperature. There was no melting and sticking today, that is for certain. It was a great trip. Since we ate breakfast rather late and we only had a 4.5 hour trip home, we didn't stop for lunch. The earliest we could have stopped to keep me on my diabetic meal time schedule would have been in Moose Jaw: 40 minutes from my own home! Instead, when we stopped to fill the car with gasoline in Swift Current, we rooted out a couple of muffins and a nut bar and had an 11:30am snack that carried me right through until after 4:30pm, when I finally felt like eating again. Another small snack at 8:30pm will carry me over until breakfast tomorrow.
On the way into Regina we stopped at Kat's to pick up the mail she so graciously collected for us in our absence. Then we drove to the grocery store for a few items that will see us through if it is too cold to go shopping tomorrow. Then on to the post office for me to pick up the parcel my son mailed to me for Christmas: two art books that will provide me with no end of fun over the coming weeks.
Finally we cruised into our own parking lot and lo and behold, Kat had been over to our place this morning for a final mail run and shoveled the deep snow drifts off our back deck and steps, plus a path across the lawn to our parking spot so we would have an easier time unloading the car! Can you believe it??? This sort of costly kindness on her part is why so many people love and pray for her. She doesn't know how NOT to give to others!!!
I confess I did not unpack right away, as is my usual habit. We walked into a hornet's nest of phone messages needing attention after our absence, a slue of ministry related calls from the diocese for my husband came in before our boots and coats were even put away, we needed to call Dad on his 93rd birthday immediately before he had to get ready for the dispensary and then onto the dining room for dinner and on and on it went. Mom also called. We received two dinner invitations within minutes of walking into the house with our grocery bags....all wonderful "stuff" but by the time we got through the calls and read the mail and got all the suitcases, mattresses and bedding and food totes and coolers back into the house we were exhausted! So, we spent our evening slouching around on the sofa watching tv and updating our computers.
Finally I feel ready to go to sleep for the night, now that it is after 11pm. My body is still on Alberta time, an hour earlier than here in Saskatchewan and it has taken me awhile to feel truly tired. However, I am now unpacked, the laundry is in the basket for doing tomorrow afternoon. I will brave the deep freeze in the morning to go to the bank and pay some bills.
Just knowing that life is returning to a routine of sorts is kind of comforting to be honest. I am losing my taste for the process of travelling to other destinations. It is wonderful to be in other places than home, but I am finding the actual travel to get to them is becoming more of a chore. I used to find the route as much fun as the destination, but now it is just a pain driving for hours to get somewhere. Flying is even worse with flight delays, random security checks, lost baggage....yup, I am getting too old to enjoy this process any more. Old age..that has to be the reason, right?
Too Many Mattresses!
In the past nine days I have slept on five different mattresses. As a result, my back is no longer happy, so tonight I haven’t slept much at all. I woke up at 2:30am. It is now 4:15am. Sigh.... Why does this have to happen the night before what may be a somewhat difficult drive weather-wise the rest of the way home? Grrrrrrr.....
My husband is sound asleep. Do I risk waking him by turning on the bedside light to read myself back to sleep?
Yup!
My husband is sound asleep. Do I risk waking him by turning on the bedside light to read myself back to sleep?
Yup!
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
So Near and Yet So Far...The Travels Home Continue
We had a safe drive yesterday back to Calgary from our relaxing time with family in Edmonton. My husband was able to leave his family, content that he was able to assist in getting some computer repairs done for them, my son thrilled that he was able to see his aunt and uncle for the first time in a number of years and enjoyed cooking with and for his aunt, (her artichoke and chicken casserole was fantastic and his newly created spaghetti dish and glazed cherries over grilled pork chops were equally wonderful, while his uncle is the BBQ grill master), and I was forced to relax and read books, nap, write emails and take badly needed naps.
We returned to Calgary at about noon, just as the predicted snow was starting to fall. Perfect timing! Mom was waiting for us as we cruised into her parking lot and picked her up for another lunch at the Little Chief. Honestly, the cost of the chef’s gourmet lunches is incredibly reasonable for the quality of the ingredients and portion size.
After lunch we returned to the guest suite at Mom’s facility and phoned Dad to have a last visit and say our goodbyes for this trip. His room was put on lockdown that morning as his roommate contracted the terrible virus wreaking havoc in the nursing home. That was sad, especially for our son, but he and Dad talked for a long time.
Last night the men went out for sushi and some guy time. They came home still having an intense theological discussion, big surprise, hahaha. I went to Mom’s with my food tote, made myself a grilled cheese sandwich and had fun visiting her until the guys returned.
After a very good sleep, again yay, we had a last visit with Mom this morning before taking our son to the airport. His flight was on time....again....how does he do that???? He texted us later this afternoon to say that his huge art studio suitcase had arrived safely too and he had the paintings unpacked at the gallery, ready for installation for this weekend’s show opening this weekend. He was on his way to the framer’s to pick up the other paintings he had FedEx’d there a few weeks ago.
Our son received free gold leaf covered frames for those paintings. Four years ago while still living in Vancouver, my son had his final horrendous experience with his ex...I won’t go into it. In a fit of rage and upset and fear he took one of his paintings and threw it out of his studio into the street. As a result, it was badly damaged. He was so upset he left it in the street, where aa area framer found it and realized by the style of the painting and its proximity to our son’s studio that it must have been one of his. He took it off the street without telling our son, had the canvas professionally repaired and the paint touched up. Then he contacted our son and told him what he had done. He asked our son if he could keep the painting, (still worth several thousand dollars in spite of the damage and repairs), in exchange for free framing at some point in the future. Our son agreed, so for this show it was finally time for our son to call in the favour. Apparently the new frames are fantastic and our son is thrilled. Wow! What a cool story!
After a most mediocre lunch at Strathmore’s version of Original Joe’s, (Regina’s and Swift Current’s are far superior....actually very good food for a chain restaurant), we carried on to Medicine Hat and are currently ensconced in the renovated Baymont Hotel which is very inexpensive, nicely appointed and has an attached Indian restaurant where we enjoyed a tasty, inexpensive meal. Our original plan had been to push through to Regina as we enjoy night time highway driving, but after driving in blowing snow all the way from Calgary to Medicine Hat that was starting to ice up the roads, we opted to be sensible for once. It will be bitterly cold tomorrow, but the highway should be cleared by morning and no more snow is predicted. It seems to be taking forever to get home, but better safe than sorry, right?
FANTASTIC NEWS from Kat today: she had her oncologist appointment for her three month checkup. After an entire afternoon of test after test, she was told there is no sign whatsoever of any cancer! Hallelujah!!!!!!! She is so grateful for all the prayers. As she continues to struggle through recovery from the intensive chemotherapy, she will be feeling more confident and joyful knowing for certain the symptoms she is still dealing with are not signs of continuing cancer. Thanks so much everybody for your prayers for her.
PS excuse any spelling errors. My iPad won’t let me edit complete posts that are this long.
We returned to Calgary at about noon, just as the predicted snow was starting to fall. Perfect timing! Mom was waiting for us as we cruised into her parking lot and picked her up for another lunch at the Little Chief. Honestly, the cost of the chef’s gourmet lunches is incredibly reasonable for the quality of the ingredients and portion size.
After lunch we returned to the guest suite at Mom’s facility and phoned Dad to have a last visit and say our goodbyes for this trip. His room was put on lockdown that morning as his roommate contracted the terrible virus wreaking havoc in the nursing home. That was sad, especially for our son, but he and Dad talked for a long time.
Last night the men went out for sushi and some guy time. They came home still having an intense theological discussion, big surprise, hahaha. I went to Mom’s with my food tote, made myself a grilled cheese sandwich and had fun visiting her until the guys returned.
After a very good sleep, again yay, we had a last visit with Mom this morning before taking our son to the airport. His flight was on time....again....how does he do that???? He texted us later this afternoon to say that his huge art studio suitcase had arrived safely too and he had the paintings unpacked at the gallery, ready for installation for this weekend’s show opening this weekend. He was on his way to the framer’s to pick up the other paintings he had FedEx’d there a few weeks ago.
Our son received free gold leaf covered frames for those paintings. Four years ago while still living in Vancouver, my son had his final horrendous experience with his ex...I won’t go into it. In a fit of rage and upset and fear he took one of his paintings and threw it out of his studio into the street. As a result, it was badly damaged. He was so upset he left it in the street, where aa area framer found it and realized by the style of the painting and its proximity to our son’s studio that it must have been one of his. He took it off the street without telling our son, had the canvas professionally repaired and the paint touched up. Then he contacted our son and told him what he had done. He asked our son if he could keep the painting, (still worth several thousand dollars in spite of the damage and repairs), in exchange for free framing at some point in the future. Our son agreed, so for this show it was finally time for our son to call in the favour. Apparently the new frames are fantastic and our son is thrilled. Wow! What a cool story!
After a most mediocre lunch at Strathmore’s version of Original Joe’s, (Regina’s and Swift Current’s are far superior....actually very good food for a chain restaurant), we carried on to Medicine Hat and are currently ensconced in the renovated Baymont Hotel which is very inexpensive, nicely appointed and has an attached Indian restaurant where we enjoyed a tasty, inexpensive meal. Our original plan had been to push through to Regina as we enjoy night time highway driving, but after driving in blowing snow all the way from Calgary to Medicine Hat that was starting to ice up the roads, we opted to be sensible for once. It will be bitterly cold tomorrow, but the highway should be cleared by morning and no more snow is predicted. It seems to be taking forever to get home, but better safe than sorry, right?
FANTASTIC NEWS from Kat today: she had her oncologist appointment for her three month checkup. After an entire afternoon of test after test, she was told there is no sign whatsoever of any cancer! Hallelujah!!!!!!! She is so grateful for all the prayers. As she continues to struggle through recovery from the intensive chemotherapy, she will be feeling more confident and joyful knowing for certain the symptoms she is still dealing with are not signs of continuing cancer. Thanks so much everybody for your prayers for her.
PS excuse any spelling errors. My iPad won’t let me edit complete posts that are this long.
Monday, January 6, 2020
Another Lazy Day has n Edmonton For Me
Today is another typical day with my husband’s family: they and my husband are all busy with various family photo and computer repair projects, my son is getting the prep done for the pork chop meal he is preparing for us all tonight and I am blogging because I have nothing else to do. Yawn....I am totally relaxed.
I am beyond anxious to get home and resume my life, see my friends, get back to my own church, knowing dad and mom are doing as best they can under the circumstances and plans for my son’s return to the USA are coming together.
This morning we prayed his formal visa papers would not be held up getting to his lawyer so that he would be able to retain his departure flight home; we prayed that he would find work as soon as he gets back; we prayed that our mail would be safe at home in our box and an expected parcel would not be left sitting where it could be stolen.
In less than an hour our son got word that his lawyer had just received the papers and that a proper delivery address had been set up in Vancouver for FedEx to hold them for our son to pick them up when he arrives two days from now. Immediately afterward he received an email from a New York artist he has worked for previously asking if he could work for him for a few weeks as soon as our son gets back. Then he heard from his last employer wanting him to work in February. These temporary jobs are buying him time to look for a more stable, full time job by spring. As we rejoiced about these immediate answers to our prayers, a friend at home texted me to say she would look after my mail pick up! She has been to our place now, emptied the mailbox and discovered a pick up notice for my expected parcel stuck to the back door. I have peace of mind now because my son’s Christmas gift to me is safely in postal storage and I will be able to pick it up before a second pickup notice is delivered. Yay! Quite a morning. Thank you Lord.
This afternoon I took my son shopping for the ingredients he needs for tonight’s dinner: fresh mint, parsley and rosemary, goat cheese, snap peas, fresh cherries, tinned whole baby tomatoes, a block of Parmesan cheese, fresh garlic, onions, shallots...whatever he creates from these ingredients is bound to be delicious. I am looking forward to dinner again tonight. Last night’s chicken and artichoke casserole was fantastic! My husband’s sister could have been a top chef under different life circumstances. Even her simple banana loaf has no equal.
We will be leaving fairly early in the morning to return to Calgary. Looks like we will be travelling in falling snow most of the way there and most of the way back as far as Medicine Hat the next day. Not pleasant, but we cannot complain because our winter travels to date have been amazingly stress free in terms of the weather. The sun is shining brightly today and the outside temperature is barely below zero. Yay! Hopefully a couple of days from now when we go the rest of the way home the snow will have abated.
Mom called this morning to let us know dad’s facility is on lockdown for norovirus and a respiratory issue among the patients. It means we won’t be able to see him tomorrow afternoon, so we are very grateful for dad having his own phone. At least we can talk together. Poor dad. He is so disappointed. We are too. My son though cannot risk becoming ill right now as he will have to hit the ground running in Vancouver and I am having my wee surgery in a couple of weeks, so I have to stay healthy too.
Well, maybe I will go and read a book.
I am beyond anxious to get home and resume my life, see my friends, get back to my own church, knowing dad and mom are doing as best they can under the circumstances and plans for my son’s return to the USA are coming together.
This morning we prayed his formal visa papers would not be held up getting to his lawyer so that he would be able to retain his departure flight home; we prayed that he would find work as soon as he gets back; we prayed that our mail would be safe at home in our box and an expected parcel would not be left sitting where it could be stolen.
In less than an hour our son got word that his lawyer had just received the papers and that a proper delivery address had been set up in Vancouver for FedEx to hold them for our son to pick them up when he arrives two days from now. Immediately afterward he received an email from a New York artist he has worked for previously asking if he could work for him for a few weeks as soon as our son gets back. Then he heard from his last employer wanting him to work in February. These temporary jobs are buying him time to look for a more stable, full time job by spring. As we rejoiced about these immediate answers to our prayers, a friend at home texted me to say she would look after my mail pick up! She has been to our place now, emptied the mailbox and discovered a pick up notice for my expected parcel stuck to the back door. I have peace of mind now because my son’s Christmas gift to me is safely in postal storage and I will be able to pick it up before a second pickup notice is delivered. Yay! Quite a morning. Thank you Lord.
This afternoon I took my son shopping for the ingredients he needs for tonight’s dinner: fresh mint, parsley and rosemary, goat cheese, snap peas, fresh cherries, tinned whole baby tomatoes, a block of Parmesan cheese, fresh garlic, onions, shallots...whatever he creates from these ingredients is bound to be delicious. I am looking forward to dinner again tonight. Last night’s chicken and artichoke casserole was fantastic! My husband’s sister could have been a top chef under different life circumstances. Even her simple banana loaf has no equal.
We will be leaving fairly early in the morning to return to Calgary. Looks like we will be travelling in falling snow most of the way there and most of the way back as far as Medicine Hat the next day. Not pleasant, but we cannot complain because our winter travels to date have been amazingly stress free in terms of the weather. The sun is shining brightly today and the outside temperature is barely below zero. Yay! Hopefully a couple of days from now when we go the rest of the way home the snow will have abated.
Mom called this morning to let us know dad’s facility is on lockdown for norovirus and a respiratory issue among the patients. It means we won’t be able to see him tomorrow afternoon, so we are very grateful for dad having his own phone. At least we can talk together. Poor dad. He is so disappointed. We are too. My son though cannot risk becoming ill right now as he will have to hit the ground running in Vancouver and I am having my wee surgery in a couple of weeks, so I have to stay healthy too.
Well, maybe I will go and read a book.
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