WORSHIP PLANNING
Covid19 Pandemic Edition
Breathe On Me, Breath of God...............NOPE
Precious Lord, Take My Hand................NOPE
Just a Closer Walk With Thee.................NOPE
Gather Us In..............................................NOPE
Close To Thee............................................NOPE
COULD WORK
Wash O God, Our Sons and Daughters
Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley
I Come To the Garden Alone
Trust and Obey
Friday, July 31, 2020
"Oh Dear Man, You Are Falling All Apart!"
This was my husband's doctor's comment at the end of my husband's appointment today. The CFS symptoms have been so intense for the past few months, growing worse each week it seems, that in desperation my husband went back to his GP today to ask if it is possible there is something else going on.
So, 35 years later, here we go again with the same lab work, heart diagnostics, lung testing etc., etc., etc. that my husband went through before he received his CFS diagnosis nearly 35 years ago....and that only by process of elimination. This morning there was a chest x-ray, followed by every non-fasting bodily fluid test it is possible for a man to have. New statins prescribed today will be rechecked in 4 weeks to see if they are helping lower his cholesterol. After all the exercise, fish oil tablets, mega vitamin B12 doses, changing his diet drastically and generally doing all a person can do to regain control of their cholesterol creation, his cholersterol has not dropped by so much as a tenth of a point. Sigh....when my husband came out of his appointment he was terribly discouraged. He didn't want to go for any x-rays or blood work until next week, he didn't want to have to keep thinking about it, but the diagnostic lab happens to be only a few blocks from the property where he was landscaping yesterday and we had to return there to complete a couple of details anyway, so.....yes, we stopped at the diagnostics lab for the x-ray. After completing his last few minutes of the landscaping job we decided (actually I decided) that we might as well stop at the blood lab for his many many tests as it is across the street from our pharmacy and I could go in there to pick up his prescription while he was at the lab. I finally convinced him! YAY! This afternoon I made a follow up appointment with his GP a month from now as requested and left a message for the heart specialist to have an EKG appointment set up for next week. So, once that is set up my husband will have completed all the "assignments" he was given. YES! Since he starts his so called holidays tomorrow, we might as well have as few medical worries on our minds as possible before then. Who knows? Maybe all these tests WON'T just be a waste of time and worry. Perhaps they will show up some other problem that needs addressing, something unrelated to the CFS, maybe even something dangerous that needs immediate attention....OR they will show nothing specific at all, just like they did 35 years ago. Guess we will know soon enough.
WELL, we have been so blessed over the past 35 years, with many extended periods of good health for my husband, so many breaks in the CFS action, that we really aren't complaining that loudly about what appears to be a serious relapse. The stomach disasters he experienced a few months ago are likely just part of that same syndrome and as the other symptoms we are more familiar with have returned, the tummy has settled down again.
I am grateful to God the man is still alive. 35 years ago he appeared to be dying a very slow death and after we implemented the CFS diet and spent a long time using the old trial and error method of eating, vitamin and mineral supplements and pacing rest and activity, he got a handle on the whole problem with only minor relapses until last year. Such is life. I just pray every day for him to have strength physically and a clear mind.
He decided he wanted to have lunch out today at DarBar, so we did that. It was the usual delicious food and each of our $11.99 platters contained enough of each item to bring home a complete dinner for ourselves. We will dine again tonight on beef curry, lamb rogan josh, rice, raitta, naan and chickpea curry. We each ate all of our salad and mango rice pudding at noon. Couldn't bear to leave either of them for later, hahaha. Just after we ordered our lunch we noticed our friend, for who my husband did the landscape work yesterday, coming out of a store across the street. We ran out to ask her if she had eaten lunch yet and she had not, so she was able to join us. Gosh, that was so nice...an added treat. She is such a cheery soul, has a great sense of fun and we had a wonderful visit.
This afternoon I went over to Indigo to find some large print novels for my mom. Oh my...the selection of large prints was almost non-existent today, but of the dozen or so books available I did find 2 I think Mom will like. Audio books seem to have taken over the shelf space where the large pring books have always been stocked. It was kind of eerie in the store because the only available staff were the 2 cashiers and one floor staffer who I caught a glimpse of a couple of times. We had to sanitize our hands before entering, there was an audio announcement advising that masks are preferred now, although few customers were wearing them, another announcement asking us not to touch the products more than absolutely necessary...and how realistic is that in a book store, right? Large signs told us that cash is no longer accepted for payment. Wow, the world of retail has definitely changed and I wonder if there will be any going backward to the freedom of movement we used to have.
Joy of joys, the temperature today outside has only reached +27C. YAY! That 5 to 7 degrees cooler temperature has made the difference for me between the wilting, hothouse feelings yesterday and the more restoration of energy today. Today there is even a hint of a breeze! YAY!
So, 35 years later, here we go again with the same lab work, heart diagnostics, lung testing etc., etc., etc. that my husband went through before he received his CFS diagnosis nearly 35 years ago....and that only by process of elimination. This morning there was a chest x-ray, followed by every non-fasting bodily fluid test it is possible for a man to have. New statins prescribed today will be rechecked in 4 weeks to see if they are helping lower his cholesterol. After all the exercise, fish oil tablets, mega vitamin B12 doses, changing his diet drastically and generally doing all a person can do to regain control of their cholesterol creation, his cholersterol has not dropped by so much as a tenth of a point. Sigh....when my husband came out of his appointment he was terribly discouraged. He didn't want to go for any x-rays or blood work until next week, he didn't want to have to keep thinking about it, but the diagnostic lab happens to be only a few blocks from the property where he was landscaping yesterday and we had to return there to complete a couple of details anyway, so.....yes, we stopped at the diagnostics lab for the x-ray. After completing his last few minutes of the landscaping job we decided (actually I decided) that we might as well stop at the blood lab for his many many tests as it is across the street from our pharmacy and I could go in there to pick up his prescription while he was at the lab. I finally convinced him! YAY! This afternoon I made a follow up appointment with his GP a month from now as requested and left a message for the heart specialist to have an EKG appointment set up for next week. So, once that is set up my husband will have completed all the "assignments" he was given. YES! Since he starts his so called holidays tomorrow, we might as well have as few medical worries on our minds as possible before then. Who knows? Maybe all these tests WON'T just be a waste of time and worry. Perhaps they will show up some other problem that needs addressing, something unrelated to the CFS, maybe even something dangerous that needs immediate attention....OR they will show nothing specific at all, just like they did 35 years ago. Guess we will know soon enough.
WELL, we have been so blessed over the past 35 years, with many extended periods of good health for my husband, so many breaks in the CFS action, that we really aren't complaining that loudly about what appears to be a serious relapse. The stomach disasters he experienced a few months ago are likely just part of that same syndrome and as the other symptoms we are more familiar with have returned, the tummy has settled down again.
I am grateful to God the man is still alive. 35 years ago he appeared to be dying a very slow death and after we implemented the CFS diet and spent a long time using the old trial and error method of eating, vitamin and mineral supplements and pacing rest and activity, he got a handle on the whole problem with only minor relapses until last year. Such is life. I just pray every day for him to have strength physically and a clear mind.
He decided he wanted to have lunch out today at DarBar, so we did that. It was the usual delicious food and each of our $11.99 platters contained enough of each item to bring home a complete dinner for ourselves. We will dine again tonight on beef curry, lamb rogan josh, rice, raitta, naan and chickpea curry. We each ate all of our salad and mango rice pudding at noon. Couldn't bear to leave either of them for later, hahaha. Just after we ordered our lunch we noticed our friend, for who my husband did the landscape work yesterday, coming out of a store across the street. We ran out to ask her if she had eaten lunch yet and she had not, so she was able to join us. Gosh, that was so nice...an added treat. She is such a cheery soul, has a great sense of fun and we had a wonderful visit.
This afternoon I went over to Indigo to find some large print novels for my mom. Oh my...the selection of large prints was almost non-existent today, but of the dozen or so books available I did find 2 I think Mom will like. Audio books seem to have taken over the shelf space where the large pring books have always been stocked. It was kind of eerie in the store because the only available staff were the 2 cashiers and one floor staffer who I caught a glimpse of a couple of times. We had to sanitize our hands before entering, there was an audio announcement advising that masks are preferred now, although few customers were wearing them, another announcement asking us not to touch the products more than absolutely necessary...and how realistic is that in a book store, right? Large signs told us that cash is no longer accepted for payment. Wow, the world of retail has definitely changed and I wonder if there will be any going backward to the freedom of movement we used to have.
Joy of joys, the temperature today outside has only reached +27C. YAY! That 5 to 7 degrees cooler temperature has made the difference for me between the wilting, hothouse feelings yesterday and the more restoration of energy today. Today there is even a hint of a breeze! YAY!
Thursday, July 30, 2020
Thrilled For My Friends!
I am feeling a tad choked up this evening....happy tears. Good friends from our former life in Alberta also left that province a few years ago to move into central Canada to be closer to family.
Now they are returning to their former Alberta town to live once again.
In the years we have known them they have had a couple of houses of the older variety...nice, well built houses, but that needed constant renovating, updating and an outlay of cash to maintain. Just like us, chronic health issues made home owning a bit of a financial chore at various times and limited their choice of housing purchases. Now, due to a rather special circumstance, they have been able, just this evening actually, to purchase a house that is a good twenty or more years newer than their previous houses, plus it appears to be in better condition than either of the previous places so it should require far fewer renovations to make it work for them. There is a proper garage, a tool shed, a fire pit and even a gazebo on the property, there are more bedrooms than they have had before, no stairs to worry about....it is a really nice house! There can be a man cave and a sewing room, without impinging on the living and dining rooms. YAY!!! (They will be so impressed that I have made these plans for room set ups for them, teehee.)
I am so happy for them! Welcome back to western Canada dear friends! You deserve a nice house and I am ecstatic that you have one on such a pretty lot in a nice neighbourhood!
Now they are returning to their former Alberta town to live once again.
In the years we have known them they have had a couple of houses of the older variety...nice, well built houses, but that needed constant renovating, updating and an outlay of cash to maintain. Just like us, chronic health issues made home owning a bit of a financial chore at various times and limited their choice of housing purchases. Now, due to a rather special circumstance, they have been able, just this evening actually, to purchase a house that is a good twenty or more years newer than their previous houses, plus it appears to be in better condition than either of the previous places so it should require far fewer renovations to make it work for them. There is a proper garage, a tool shed, a fire pit and even a gazebo on the property, there are more bedrooms than they have had before, no stairs to worry about....it is a really nice house! There can be a man cave and a sewing room, without impinging on the living and dining rooms. YAY!!! (They will be so impressed that I have made these plans for room set ups for them, teehee.)
I am so happy for them! Welcome back to western Canada dear friends! You deserve a nice house and I am ecstatic that you have one on such a pretty lot in a nice neighbourhood!
The Healing Power Of Friends
Yesterday we had coffee cake and a cup of peppermint tea with another couple. It was a wonderful time. Distancing is feeling more usual now....I refuse to say normal just yet..... As our host said, it was nice to see each other in 3D! haha. Like us, they have not been regularly attending the breakout rooms after the Zoom church services because visiting is so difficult that way. Trying to maintain conversation without cutting each other off due to the split second audio delay is quite frustrating for all of us. It was comforting to discover my husband and I are not the only ones struggling with Zoom visiting.
This weekend marks the start of a month’s holiday for my husband. Apart from a possible short canoe trip right smack in the middle of the month, there is not going to be any “holiday”. The pandemic has made certain of that, as it has for many people. I am hopeful for him that the trip actually comes about. For myself, I am dreading the time he will be away. It is hard enough being stuck inside together, the thought of being stuck inside alone without his company for several consecutive days is not something I want to face.
I suspect the current heatwave is contributing to my melancholy about his trip, because it is robbing me of my longer distance walks. Walking is soothing, but I am unable to tolerate the intense heat. The idea of being trapped indoors alone during a heatwave is not appealing. Of course I will be just fine. The time will pass quickly as it always does.
Today I will have a few hours alone while my husband completes the last of his scheduled yard work projects for a colleague. It is 6am, the outside temperature is already +20C and there is no breeze.
I am so grateful the shingles virus symptoms have been progressively healing; slowly to be sure, but each day brings improvement. While the right of my head is still extremely sensitive to touch, I can now brush my hair without crying from the pain and I can even lie on that side now to sleep for a few hours. My sleep pattern has been severely disrupted by having to sleep sitting up for several weeks to keep the pain at bay. I slept nearly 5 1/2 hours last night, two hours longer than usual. Yay! Thank you prayer partners.
Tomorrow my husband has a medical appointment. He has developed many symptoms of mononucleosis, but they more likely indicate a return of his more serious CFS symptoms. We don’t know how much experience this doctor has in diagnosing and treating CFS, but my husband knows what lab tests to request to check these symptoms. Hopefully the doctor will agree to giving him a requisition for those specific tests to rule out other possibilities. I am growing somewhat concerned as I see a couple of symptoms he has not had previously that could indicate a different problem. How can you tell we are now senior citizens? One or both of us is struggling with a health related issue every day of our lives! Blecch! Well, on the positive side of things, it comes to us all if we live long enough. We are not alone! Mwwaaaaahaha!
On the weekend we are making a quick trip out of town to deliver payment to the parishioner who helped my husband with a large pruning job last week. A short drive out of the city will be nice. My husband and I are sharing in presenting the prayers at my church on Sunday morning to provide a bit of variety to the service. Typical: it will be the first Sunday of my husband’s holiday from his own church, but he still ends up with church duties, hahaha. Poor dear....
I think I will try for one more hour of sleep, as a slight breeze is now wafting through my window. Then it will be time to make a lunch for my husband to take with him as he goes to do this last scheduled yard maintenance job. Fortunately it is on the shady side of the property!
This weekend marks the start of a month’s holiday for my husband. Apart from a possible short canoe trip right smack in the middle of the month, there is not going to be any “holiday”. The pandemic has made certain of that, as it has for many people. I am hopeful for him that the trip actually comes about. For myself, I am dreading the time he will be away. It is hard enough being stuck inside together, the thought of being stuck inside alone without his company for several consecutive days is not something I want to face.
I suspect the current heatwave is contributing to my melancholy about his trip, because it is robbing me of my longer distance walks. Walking is soothing, but I am unable to tolerate the intense heat. The idea of being trapped indoors alone during a heatwave is not appealing. Of course I will be just fine. The time will pass quickly as it always does.
Today I will have a few hours alone while my husband completes the last of his scheduled yard work projects for a colleague. It is 6am, the outside temperature is already +20C and there is no breeze.
I am so grateful the shingles virus symptoms have been progressively healing; slowly to be sure, but each day brings improvement. While the right of my head is still extremely sensitive to touch, I can now brush my hair without crying from the pain and I can even lie on that side now to sleep for a few hours. My sleep pattern has been severely disrupted by having to sleep sitting up for several weeks to keep the pain at bay. I slept nearly 5 1/2 hours last night, two hours longer than usual. Yay! Thank you prayer partners.
Tomorrow my husband has a medical appointment. He has developed many symptoms of mononucleosis, but they more likely indicate a return of his more serious CFS symptoms. We don’t know how much experience this doctor has in diagnosing and treating CFS, but my husband knows what lab tests to request to check these symptoms. Hopefully the doctor will agree to giving him a requisition for those specific tests to rule out other possibilities. I am growing somewhat concerned as I see a couple of symptoms he has not had previously that could indicate a different problem. How can you tell we are now senior citizens? One or both of us is struggling with a health related issue every day of our lives! Blecch! Well, on the positive side of things, it comes to us all if we live long enough. We are not alone! Mwwaaaaahaha!
On the weekend we are making a quick trip out of town to deliver payment to the parishioner who helped my husband with a large pruning job last week. A short drive out of the city will be nice. My husband and I are sharing in presenting the prayers at my church on Sunday morning to provide a bit of variety to the service. Typical: it will be the first Sunday of my husband’s holiday from his own church, but he still ends up with church duties, hahaha. Poor dear....
I think I will try for one more hour of sleep, as a slight breeze is now wafting through my window. Then it will be time to make a lunch for my husband to take with him as he goes to do this last scheduled yard maintenance job. Fortunately it is on the shady side of the property!
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Another Unexpected Kind of Day
Today was also not quite what we were expecting, but in great and wonderful ways!
We have had a picnic planned for a long time with some friends. I have been dreading it from the very start of the idea because I hate eating out of doors at picnic sites. My general experience with them has been a lousy one, with wasps, mosquitoes, ants, flies, spiders all vying to see who can steal my food first and/or who can sting, bite or irritate me the most in the sweltering mid day heat. However, our friends are genuine picnic buffs and I didn't want to be the only whiny baby in the crowd, so I prepared myself for a few hours of torture and away we went.
What an unexpectedly blessed time we had!!! SERIOUSLY! The picnic site is only about 10-15 minutes from town, it was completely deserted apart from our party of 4 and one couple who were walking on a little trail along the edge of the small lake beside the site, plus other than one flying ant that made an early attack on the bread loaf, we were completely unconscious of any other insects anywhere in the area! We saw nary a wasp nor a bee nor a hornet. A quick covering of odorless mosquito spray courtesy of our friends sent any of those biters that may have been there fleeing for their lives and we were not at all bothered by them. Not so much as a housefly made any attempt to attack either our meal or our persons. It was SUCH FUN! If all picnics were like the experience we had today, I would be completely sold on the outdoor eating thing. (Although I think I figured out why the place is apparently always so deserted, even when we are not in the middle of a pandemic: there are NO washrooms of any kind, necessitating for our party a rather quick return home shortly after we finished eating.)
So now I can honestly say I have had an outdoor picnic experience that I truly enjoyed. What a lovely lovely treat of friendly discussion, French bread, brie, smoked gouda, cognac pate, salami, fingers of fresh carrot and cauliflower, rounds of cucumber, new cherries, a bottle of superior white wine, devilled eggs....it was heaven! WOW!! These are fairly new friends and they are really a lot of fun. I could spend a lot more time with this couple and I do hope we get the chance over the coming months to get to know each other better.
So...I should be reading about a hundred zillion chapters of Exodus right now for our OT reading group
and I haven't started yet. It is so warm and the air so still that I am afraid I will fall asleep before I have read more than a couple of pages. Hmmmm....I wonder if the synopsis of the first half of the book would be sufficient to read in order to keep me from looking like a complete idiot tonight? Hmmmm....likely not....I had better get reading properly and just do the best I can to retain a few details before our meeting starts in less than 2 1/s hours!! Also we need to eat dinner first....aaaaargh...okay...read, read read.....
We have had a picnic planned for a long time with some friends. I have been dreading it from the very start of the idea because I hate eating out of doors at picnic sites. My general experience with them has been a lousy one, with wasps, mosquitoes, ants, flies, spiders all vying to see who can steal my food first and/or who can sting, bite or irritate me the most in the sweltering mid day heat. However, our friends are genuine picnic buffs and I didn't want to be the only whiny baby in the crowd, so I prepared myself for a few hours of torture and away we went.
What an unexpectedly blessed time we had!!! SERIOUSLY! The picnic site is only about 10-15 minutes from town, it was completely deserted apart from our party of 4 and one couple who were walking on a little trail along the edge of the small lake beside the site, plus other than one flying ant that made an early attack on the bread loaf, we were completely unconscious of any other insects anywhere in the area! We saw nary a wasp nor a bee nor a hornet. A quick covering of odorless mosquito spray courtesy of our friends sent any of those biters that may have been there fleeing for their lives and we were not at all bothered by them. Not so much as a housefly made any attempt to attack either our meal or our persons. It was SUCH FUN! If all picnics were like the experience we had today, I would be completely sold on the outdoor eating thing. (Although I think I figured out why the place is apparently always so deserted, even when we are not in the middle of a pandemic: there are NO washrooms of any kind, necessitating for our party a rather quick return home shortly after we finished eating.)
So now I can honestly say I have had an outdoor picnic experience that I truly enjoyed. What a lovely lovely treat of friendly discussion, French bread, brie, smoked gouda, cognac pate, salami, fingers of fresh carrot and cauliflower, rounds of cucumber, new cherries, a bottle of superior white wine, devilled eggs....it was heaven! WOW!! These are fairly new friends and they are really a lot of fun. I could spend a lot more time with this couple and I do hope we get the chance over the coming months to get to know each other better.
So...I should be reading about a hundred zillion chapters of Exodus right now for our OT reading group
and I haven't started yet. It is so warm and the air so still that I am afraid I will fall asleep before I have read more than a couple of pages. Hmmmm....I wonder if the synopsis of the first half of the book would be sufficient to read in order to keep me from looking like a complete idiot tonight? Hmmmm....likely not....I had better get reading properly and just do the best I can to retain a few details before our meeting starts in less than 2 1/s hours!! Also we need to eat dinner first....aaaaargh...okay...read, read read.....
Not Quite The Quiet Day We Counted On!
Yesterday did not turn out the way we assumed it would, some unexpected frustrations but also some unexpected blessings. Even the tiniest of adventures make the days so much more fulfilling than the expected "same old, same old"!
Yesterday morning my husband realized he had better get to the SaskTel store as his phone plan was about to expire. When he found out I was on my way to the pharmacy for a couple of things we needed, he decided to come with me so I could drop him off to do his business while I did my bit of shopping.
We knew there would be a line up at the phone store because in order to follow the provincial guidlines for social distancing, the tiny store would have a reduced number of employees. Sure enough, there were only two of them, plus the computer system was sluggish for some reason, so my husband was faced with a nearly 40 minute wait. With his plan about to expire, he didn't have much of a choice, so wait he did. It was still somewhat early in the morning, so I don't want to imagine what kind of line up he would have been facing if we had followed our original plan to go there after lunch! The afternoon would be a nightmare with even more people wanting service later in the day.
While my very patient husband was very patiently waiting for service, I set out to get my handful of items at the pharmacy. Among the items was corn product free aspirin because of my husband's corn allergy. He always used to purchase Exact Brand, but it had been awhile since he last had to buy any and we weren't 100% certain which pharmacy chain carried them. I THOUGHT it was the Loblaws Superstore chain, but their nearest independent pharmacy had none. The pharaceutical assistant there told me that Shoppers, now a subsidiary of Loblaws, would definitely have them. Then I remembered, at least I thought I did, that Shoppers is indeed where my husband last purchased them. Off I drove to the nearest Shoppers. I scanned the shelves more than once, but there was no Exact Brand aspirin on the shelves. A re-check of the other brands available told me that all of them are still using corn products either in the enteric coatings or as a binding agent. I lined up in the queue at the Consultation Window and waited my turn to speak to the pharmacist to find out if and when they would be getting another shipment of Exact Brand into the store. The pharmacist finally called me over and proceeded to inform me that Exact is actually a WalMart brand....Whaaaa? My husband doesn't shop at WalMart..ever....but, well, hey it was a long time ago that he purchased his corn free aspirin, so.....back across the city I drove to WalMart. I looked and looked at the product selection there. No Exact Brand. Back in line for the Consultation Window. This time the pharmacist told me that no, I had been misinformed by the Shoppers pharmacist and that Exact Brand is handled only by Real Canadian Superstore. His WalMart has no corn free aspirin. I turned my car around and headed back the way I had just come to get to the RC Superstore closest to the telephone store my husband was in. Once again there was no Exact Brand on the shelves. Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!! Once again I lined up to speak to the pharmacist, but it was one of the assistants who came to talk to me. I asked her when they would be getting more Exact Brand corn free aspirin in stock. WELL....she looked at me like I was the stupidest person on the earth, and perhaps I am, but did she need to highlight it to not only myself, but to the the lineup of people behind me? In a scathing voice she informed me that Exact Brand was no longer available and that if I wanted a bargain brand of aspirin I would have to purchase their Life Brand. I asked her if that brand was corn free. I knew darned well it wasn't because I had all ready checked it out before I went to talk to her. She asked me what difference it could possibly make. I told her about my husband's corn allergy and her reply was that there was so little corn in the product that it shouldn't bother anyone. I explained the severity of my husband's allergy and received no response, only an exasperated look. I asked to speak to the pharmacist. The assistant said the pharmacist was too busy to have to spend her time worrying about looking for a corn free aspirin for me when there was line up of other people with questions. I kind of figured that really didn't matter because if they had the same experience I was having, their questions wouldn't receive the courtesy of an answer anyway. However, her tone and manner made it abundantly clear that she wanted me to just leave! The pharmacist, who was standing only a few feet away certainly was able to hear what was going on, but said nothing, so I gave up and left. The only other pharmacy anywhere near the area was at a SaveOn Foods and my husband and I have had good experiences there in times past, so as a last ditch effort to procure corn free aspirin, I drove across the city once again to talk to the pharmacist there. Of course I checked all the products on their shelves first and found no corn free aspirin. Since there was no one else at the pharmacy and the pharmacist was not busy, I asked her if she knew of any brand of corn free aspirin that might be available. She said she would check what was all ready on the shelves...the same handful of brands all the other stores carry. I told her I had all ready looked at the ingredients lists and they all have corn product. She obviously didn't believe I had done my research thoroughly and came out from behind the counter to look for herself. Fair enough. However, when I myself had to locate the non-medicinal ingredients list on the sides of each of the brand boxes for her, after she swore there were no such listings, I should have realized I was wasting my time. When we had checked every brand (again) she told me she could probably find me something if she went online to see what is available. Stupidly I got my hopes up that some help would be forthcoming. However, as she wiggled her computer mouse and looked briefly at the monitor, she then told me that it would be a lot of work and would take a lot of time, so "Sorry, guess I can't help you." I explained to her, as I had to all the other pharmacists I spoke to that morning, (barring the rude and sullen assistant at SuperStore), that my husband is unable to take tylenol, ibuprofen or other aspirin substitutes. She didn't budge, just wished me luck doing my own online search at home and walked away from me. I drove off feeling rather upset, stopped at a Safeway pharmacy I hadn't seen previously along my route, but of course ended up with the same result of zero aspirin and zero assistance.
You will be proud of me. I didn't cuss anyone out. I didn't crawl to my car and burst into tears. I didn't even feel angry. What I felt was completely defeated. I drove back to the telephone store, arriving just as my husband finally completed his business.
The moral of the story is that if you spend two hours trying to track down a no longer existent pharmaceutical product and tearily tell your husband you cannot get him the product he desperately needs, he will be so impressed with you for caring so much, so proud of you for not telling anyone off in the process of searching, he MAY just take you down the street for lunch at your favourite taphouse and if he does, he will go in ahead of you and check out their adherence to provincial COVID19 protocols before putting his protective arm around you and escorting you to a comfy seat where he will order you an amazing meal to soothe your ruffled feelings and let you know how much he loves you!
'Tis true!! He very well may do that very thing! MY husband did!
It was so refreshing and soul edifying to go to a bbq in the beautiful back yard of friends in the evening. It was a tasty, hearty meal, with lots of wonderful vegetables and we had a super visit too. We were given a yellow and a green zucchini to bring home with us afterward. There is nothing like the loving fellowship with friends and the gift of garden fresh zucchinis to soothe the troubled soul!!
Yesterday morning my husband realized he had better get to the SaskTel store as his phone plan was about to expire. When he found out I was on my way to the pharmacy for a couple of things we needed, he decided to come with me so I could drop him off to do his business while I did my bit of shopping.
We knew there would be a line up at the phone store because in order to follow the provincial guidlines for social distancing, the tiny store would have a reduced number of employees. Sure enough, there were only two of them, plus the computer system was sluggish for some reason, so my husband was faced with a nearly 40 minute wait. With his plan about to expire, he didn't have much of a choice, so wait he did. It was still somewhat early in the morning, so I don't want to imagine what kind of line up he would have been facing if we had followed our original plan to go there after lunch! The afternoon would be a nightmare with even more people wanting service later in the day.
While my very patient husband was very patiently waiting for service, I set out to get my handful of items at the pharmacy. Among the items was corn product free aspirin because of my husband's corn allergy. He always used to purchase Exact Brand, but it had been awhile since he last had to buy any and we weren't 100% certain which pharmacy chain carried them. I THOUGHT it was the Loblaws Superstore chain, but their nearest independent pharmacy had none. The pharaceutical assistant there told me that Shoppers, now a subsidiary of Loblaws, would definitely have them. Then I remembered, at least I thought I did, that Shoppers is indeed where my husband last purchased them. Off I drove to the nearest Shoppers. I scanned the shelves more than once, but there was no Exact Brand aspirin on the shelves. A re-check of the other brands available told me that all of them are still using corn products either in the enteric coatings or as a binding agent. I lined up in the queue at the Consultation Window and waited my turn to speak to the pharmacist to find out if and when they would be getting another shipment of Exact Brand into the store. The pharmacist finally called me over and proceeded to inform me that Exact is actually a WalMart brand....Whaaaa? My husband doesn't shop at WalMart..ever....but, well, hey it was a long time ago that he purchased his corn free aspirin, so.....back across the city I drove to WalMart. I looked and looked at the product selection there. No Exact Brand. Back in line for the Consultation Window. This time the pharmacist told me that no, I had been misinformed by the Shoppers pharmacist and that Exact Brand is handled only by Real Canadian Superstore. His WalMart has no corn free aspirin. I turned my car around and headed back the way I had just come to get to the RC Superstore closest to the telephone store my husband was in. Once again there was no Exact Brand on the shelves. Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!! Once again I lined up to speak to the pharmacist, but it was one of the assistants who came to talk to me. I asked her when they would be getting more Exact Brand corn free aspirin in stock. WELL....she looked at me like I was the stupidest person on the earth, and perhaps I am, but did she need to highlight it to not only myself, but to the the lineup of people behind me? In a scathing voice she informed me that Exact Brand was no longer available and that if I wanted a bargain brand of aspirin I would have to purchase their Life Brand. I asked her if that brand was corn free. I knew darned well it wasn't because I had all ready checked it out before I went to talk to her. She asked me what difference it could possibly make. I told her about my husband's corn allergy and her reply was that there was so little corn in the product that it shouldn't bother anyone. I explained the severity of my husband's allergy and received no response, only an exasperated look. I asked to speak to the pharmacist. The assistant said the pharmacist was too busy to have to spend her time worrying about looking for a corn free aspirin for me when there was line up of other people with questions. I kind of figured that really didn't matter because if they had the same experience I was having, their questions wouldn't receive the courtesy of an answer anyway. However, her tone and manner made it abundantly clear that she wanted me to just leave! The pharmacist, who was standing only a few feet away certainly was able to hear what was going on, but said nothing, so I gave up and left. The only other pharmacy anywhere near the area was at a SaveOn Foods and my husband and I have had good experiences there in times past, so as a last ditch effort to procure corn free aspirin, I drove across the city once again to talk to the pharmacist there. Of course I checked all the products on their shelves first and found no corn free aspirin. Since there was no one else at the pharmacy and the pharmacist was not busy, I asked her if she knew of any brand of corn free aspirin that might be available. She said she would check what was all ready on the shelves...the same handful of brands all the other stores carry. I told her I had all ready looked at the ingredients lists and they all have corn product. She obviously didn't believe I had done my research thoroughly and came out from behind the counter to look for herself. Fair enough. However, when I myself had to locate the non-medicinal ingredients list on the sides of each of the brand boxes for her, after she swore there were no such listings, I should have realized I was wasting my time. When we had checked every brand (again) she told me she could probably find me something if she went online to see what is available. Stupidly I got my hopes up that some help would be forthcoming. However, as she wiggled her computer mouse and looked briefly at the monitor, she then told me that it would be a lot of work and would take a lot of time, so "Sorry, guess I can't help you." I explained to her, as I had to all the other pharmacists I spoke to that morning, (barring the rude and sullen assistant at SuperStore), that my husband is unable to take tylenol, ibuprofen or other aspirin substitutes. She didn't budge, just wished me luck doing my own online search at home and walked away from me. I drove off feeling rather upset, stopped at a Safeway pharmacy I hadn't seen previously along my route, but of course ended up with the same result of zero aspirin and zero assistance.
You will be proud of me. I didn't cuss anyone out. I didn't crawl to my car and burst into tears. I didn't even feel angry. What I felt was completely defeated. I drove back to the telephone store, arriving just as my husband finally completed his business.
The moral of the story is that if you spend two hours trying to track down a no longer existent pharmaceutical product and tearily tell your husband you cannot get him the product he desperately needs, he will be so impressed with you for caring so much, so proud of you for not telling anyone off in the process of searching, he MAY just take you down the street for lunch at your favourite taphouse and if he does, he will go in ahead of you and check out their adherence to provincial COVID19 protocols before putting his protective arm around you and escorting you to a comfy seat where he will order you an amazing meal to soothe your ruffled feelings and let you know how much he loves you!
'Tis true!! He very well may do that very thing! MY husband did!
It was so refreshing and soul edifying to go to a bbq in the beautiful back yard of friends in the evening. It was a tasty, hearty meal, with lots of wonderful vegetables and we had a super visit too. We were given a yellow and a green zucchini to bring home with us afterward. There is nothing like the loving fellowship with friends and the gift of garden fresh zucchinis to soothe the troubled soul!!
Monday, July 27, 2020
So...Where Do You Go To Party When You Want To Drive a Truck Through the Food??
You go to my friend's wee grandson's birthday party, that's where!! Hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Sunday, July 26, 2020
And Not Only The Church of England!
Could Bishop Cottrell save the church from the management department. Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images
Giles Fraser is a journalist, broadcaster and Rector at the south London church of St Mary’s, Newington
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July 9, 2020
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This was also the place where Bishop Stephen Cottrell — Essex boy, born and bred — made his final pilgrimage as walked through the Diocese of Chelmsford, saying his goodbyes to the local churches. Today he officially takes up his new job as Archbishop of York, second-in-command of the Church of England.
And St Peter’s chapel was a highly symbolic place for him to visit. He had come here very early in the morning on the first day of his ministry as Bishop of Chelmsford. Found at the end of a muddy track, it could easily be mistaken for a cow shed. Yet it points beyond itself. The modesty of the structure serves to emphasise the vastness of the Essex sky and of the vulnerability to the elements of those who gather there. Marinated in centuries of silence, this little corner of the world invites even the most limited imagination to reach out into space and time. Its power is the very opposite to that of its brutal concrete nuclear neighbour.
Yet if England is one day to be re-evangelised, it will be because of the power of lonely places like this. Out in the stony beaches and agricultural flatlands of the Dingie peninsular, there is a compelling sense of life as having a vertical axis. Out here, God makes sense.
In truth, most bishops end up disappointing people. And archbishops more than most. It is an impossible job, especially in an age where Christianity feels like it is in retreat. Last month the Diocese of Chelmsford announced that due to financial pressures it has been forced to plan for a reduction of 60 clergy posts over the next 18 months. And such reductions may well be a thing of the future as the Church continues to contract.
But what is more dangerous to the overall mission and credibility of the church is the fearful reaction that often accompanies reductions and closures. Financial pressure stimulates panicky missionary initiatives with inviting sounding names dreamt up in the religious PR department. Bishop Ched managed with the Bible, faith in the living God and a good pair of shoes.
The Church shouldn't hide its sordid past
Instead, the internet became the latest fresh expression of church, and — just whisper it — potential way of restructuring a Church with less clergy around to run it. On 29 May a number of senior churchmen wrote in the Church Times with this rather depressing vision for our future:
“Being prevented from ‘going to church’ might liberate us from our habitual routines to ‘become church’ all over again — or, perhaps, for the very first time. Such rejuvenation may help to release us, at last, from the prison of our church building, which, for many, have become shrines to the past which not only soak up energy and resources, but also perpetuate concepts of division and hierarchy harmful to a mature understanding of who we are.”Closing the churches, even to the private prayer of the clergy themselves, was a terrible mistake. But so too was replacing the mysterium tremendum with a bit of soft-Left activism and the box-ticking language of health and safety.
And do not underestimate how health and safety-ism, as a distinctive moral philosophy, is now totally transforming the Church. Last week Bishop Stephen was himself forced to apologise for a lapse in judgment after it was discovered that a safeguarding matter he dealt with 10 years ago was not fully documented and the appropriate authorities were not properly informed. The issue looked like a minor mistake, and a mistake of process not intention.
But these days, when even previous senior bishops from George Bell to George Carey have been very publicly disgraced over their handling of the issue, the processes of the Church are where the real power now lies. Some see this as a welcome attempt at moral objectivity, indifferent to the status of offenders; others fear that it makes power inhuman, bureaucratic and dangerously beyond question.
How cancel culture makes liars of us all
Weber argued that charismatic authority is transformed by routine into something very different: bureaucratic authority. The hallmarks of this distinctively modernist system of authority are the specialisation of labour, a reliance on rules and regulations, technical competence guidelines, a reliance on written rather than verbal communications, record keeping and above all impersonality and personal indifference.
You may believe that this “professionalisation” is a good thing — but it is extraordinary that the Church has been transformed by it with very little reflection as to its virtues. And there are some of us who think it is proving to be a disaster, with the Church of England now going the way of the University, gradually being strangled by risk assessments, impact reports, and HR departments warning against “reputational risk”. Weber called it an “iron cage” and that is how it feels.
Bishop Stephen talks just about enough of this new Church management-speak to make the true believers think that he gets it. And perhaps he does — you can’t get on in the Church these days without genuflecting to secular management processes. And indeed, he was the Diocesan Missioner in Wakefield, one of those non parish jobs that is all about inventing vacuous vision statements and planning meaningless days of action.
But I can forgive him all of that, because what I really like about Bishop Stephen is that bit of him we get to see when he puts up his out-of-office sign and steps away from the endless round of Church committees. Some bishops look like they were purpose built for synods; they find the kingdom of God in the minutes of the last meeting. Not Stephen Cottrell.
What if we made our MPs go to church?
Like Cedd, Cottrell’s primary task is the evangelisation of England. And I am strangely encouraged by this simple emphasis on walking as it relates to the task of spreading the word in a post-Christian society. The Church is not a business. It does not need to be a model of efficiency. Indeed, it should look completely different to the secular organisations that demand our day-to-day allegiance.
To walk is to break free from the iron cage. You can’t take much with you, and you have to trust yourself to the elements — and often to the simple charity of strangers. Keep walking Bishop, and avoid as many meetings as you can. Walk the Yorkshire Dales. Pray along its highways and byways. And on the way you will meet people and explain the Gospel to them. That’s what the Church needs from its leadership.
An Interesting Article on Cancel Culture
Mahalia Jackson's favourite hymn, Amazing Grace, was written by a slaver. Credit: Ullstein Bild/ Getty
Giles Fraser is a journalist, broadcaster and Rector at the south London church of St Mary’s, Newington
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June 11, 2020
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Many of the spirituals that she sang were taken from the Biblical book of Psalms, often from passages that lament the conditions of slavery into which the people of Israel were taken. She sang at her friend Martin Luther King’s funeral. Harry Belafonte called her “the single most powerful black woman in the United States”.
Among her favourite hymns was ‘Amazing Grace’. I find it hard to hear her sing it without welling up. It is utterly beautiful and captivating. And the opening words are such a direct and powerful statement of the Christian doctrine of redemption:
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind but now I see.
The hymn was written by John Newton.
And John Newton was a slaver. Not in Edward Colston’s league, perhaps.
But he captained slave ships, trafficking his human cargo to a life of
utter misery, and he personally profited from the slave trade. ‘Amazing
Grace’ is such an extraordinarily powerful hymn precisely because it was
written by a man with such a shameful past.That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind but now I see.
Newton has become a kind of patron saint to those looking for some sort of redemption. It’s no surprise, then, that Rev Jonathan Aitken, the disgraced former Cabinet Minster and a previous guest on my Confessions podcast, co-authored a biography of the man. Even those of us whose sins do not add up to anything like Newton’s, recognise in his words the promise that we are not necessarily eternally imprisoned by the things that we have done wrong in our lives. Jackson understood this. “I sing God’s music because it makes me feel free” references freedom from imprisonment on a number of different levels.
The contrast here with the developing moral consciousness of the contemporary culture wars is acute and, to me, quite frightening. For although something like the anger that feeds into the toppling of Edward Colston’s statue has a clear moral righteousness about it, it is not a righteousness that has been tempered by any sense of our collective need for redemption.
The new, highly secular ‘cancel culture’ represents an extreme form of righteousness that has all the moral power of a certain kind of protestant Christianity, but none of the basic scaffolding of redemption on which such Christianity is built. And morality without forgiveness or redemption is a frightening, persecutory business.
Part of the problem with the cancel culture of modern identity politics is that it makes the confession of sins so much more difficult to achieve. Or, to put that in a more secular idiom: how can we all confront the various forms of racism, sexism, homophobia and so on that we harbour within, when the consequences of any form of public admission are devastating and toxic?
There’s a sort of furious moral vigilantism that encourages its adherents to trawl through our public utterances — in order to condemn and shame us in the high court of Twitter. Against this digital shoaling of the mob, any protestations of rightful innocence are impossible to make, and the fear of being targeted makes any exploration or confession of our hidden failings terrifying to contemplate.
Cancel culture makes us hide in fear. It makes us publicly pretend we are better than we are. It turns us all into liars — and the more we fear the exposure of our failings, the more we point the finger at others in the hope of misdirecting the anger of the crowd.
Hate the sin, love the sinner. This phrase is often trotted out in evangelical circles, and it has become too much of a cliché. But nonetheless it neatly summarises a kind of firewall that developed in some Christian circles to stop legitimate anger at injustice spilling over into some kind of endless personal attack upon the perpetrators. And it enables us to explore our own failings so much more easily.
The problem is that, under Christian culture, we used to believe that wrongdoers would get their ultimate comeuppance when they faced the divine after death. From such a perspective the final administration of justice would be carried out by the ultimate righteous judge who knows all the secrets of our hearts.
But this God is now dead in popular culture. And so the consequences of our moral failings have to be reckoned with in this life — otherwise we would get away with them without any sort of censure. In other words, the God that would judge us all with fairness and kindness has been replaced by the high court of the digital trial. And once sentence has been passed, there is no coming back, ever. That is what it is to be cancelled.
In 2007, down a small alley off Fenchurch street in the City of London, Archbishop Desmond Tutu unveiled a sculpture to remember and acknowledge the evils of the transatlantic slave trade. This site was chosen because this is where John Newton had his parish after he became an Anglican clergyman. And it was here that he came to influence fellow evangelicals like William Wilberforce and the whole abolitionist movement. The base of the sculpture is an ambiguous structure that can either be read as the pulpit from which Newton preached his sermons against slavery, or as a slave auctioneer’s podium.
This is one work of public art commemorating a former slaver that I presume will not be targeted by those seeking to pull down other structures. Though if #ghandimustfall can trend on Twitter, and if a statue of Churchill can be graffitied — a man who, whatever his undoubted failings, was instrumental in the defeat of one of the most murderous and racist regimes the world has ever known — then no amount of redemption is sufficient in the eyes of our new guardians of public morality to blot out our past offences.
Sure, there are many statues of dead white men with blood on their hands that I would not lose sleep to see the back of. And who of us didn’t cheer when that statue of Saddam Hussein was smashed to the ground?
But nonetheless, without some sort of secular equivalent to personal redemption — and I don’t know what that would be — those who recognise themselves as “a wretch” will look nervously at this crescendo of moral righteousness and begin to fear that one day the same people will come after us too. Indeed, without the existence of redemption we should probably all be afraid of vigilante moralism.
Saturday, July 25, 2020
Sumo Sumo Sumo Sumo! YIPPEE!!
😀😁😃😄😆😇😉😊😌😎✌👌👍
Yup, the July Basho is taking place in Tokyo right now! It started July 19 and ends August 3! NHK Broadcasting is posting the daily highlights online now and my husband found them tonight so we began our enjoyment of the 15 day tournament. YAY!!! The May Basho had to be cancelled due to the concern about the pandemic, so the wrestlers had to remain for the past over five months confined to their own stables, practise only with each other instead of practising with the fighters in the other stables, keep themselves indoors with open windows for better ventilation but with no media allowed outside, and eat in small groups with no talking allowed. We saw the results tonight of their limited practise opportunities when there were some huge upsets among the winners and losers of each match. Oh goody goody! Sumo is back. The matches tonight were even more interesting than some very exciting boxing matches broadcast this afternoon on TSN1 from Great Britain, and that is saying something!
Suzie LOVES Sumo!!
Yup, the July Basho is taking place in Tokyo right now! It started July 19 and ends August 3! NHK Broadcasting is posting the daily highlights online now and my husband found them tonight so we began our enjoyment of the 15 day tournament. YAY!!! The May Basho had to be cancelled due to the concern about the pandemic, so the wrestlers had to remain for the past over five months confined to their own stables, practise only with each other instead of practising with the fighters in the other stables, keep themselves indoors with open windows for better ventilation but with no media allowed outside, and eat in small groups with no talking allowed. We saw the results tonight of their limited practise opportunities when there were some huge upsets among the winners and losers of each match. Oh goody goody! Sumo is back. The matches tonight were even more interesting than some very exciting boxing matches broadcast this afternoon on TSN1 from Great Britain, and that is saying something!
Suzie LOVES Sumo!!
Friday, July 24, 2020
Thank You Cheryl From California
Your beautiful sympathy card arrived this week and it is lovely, as is hearing from you. I am slow getting a note written back to you, but don't give up. It is coming...I promise. Bless you for your thoughtfulness!
Yup, It's Summer in Saskatchewan!
And baby it's HOT outside....and inside....and on every side.....sweat, sweat, sweat!!
After a week of rather warm temperatures around the clock each day, it appears according to the forecast that we are in for at least another week of the sweltering temperatures with very little wind after about 3pm to keep the air moving and bearable for the average prairie-ite! Whew! I am discovering that perhaps I am not as well equipped to deal with prairie summers as I thought I was. I am not surviving the constant summer heat as well as I have during previous summers, that's for sure. I am trying not to think about friends who left for a week in Panorama BC today and while I hope they have fabulous weather for him the golfer, I hope there is some relief from the heat for his family so they can just enjoy the trip without being trapped indoors in the air conditioned rooms. I was excited last evening when a late night wind and rain storm blew in and sheets of water were blowing about, but it was short lived and cooled nothing down outside. The subsequent power outage lasted longer than the storm did!
This morning I managed to get to the bank fairly early, before it got too hot outside. WONDERFUL! I didn't mind lining up to use the ATM because the lobby of the bank was air conditioned...luxury! Then I trotted off to the nearest grocery store for three badly needed items before heading home with the AC in the car at MAX setting.
Just after lunch a true blue friend came over for a distance visit. That was fun. We found a patch of shade beside our building that, with the long grass in that particular spot, would not have been fit to sit in if we actually had mosquitoes this year! Of course there are a few and I have 6 very itchy bites on my ankles to attest to that, all from a visit in a friend's back yard several days ago. Today, nada! Nary a bite. Spectacular! I am not sure why we are so short on mosquitoes this summer and I don't really care why. I am just grateful and PRAY we have the same experience next summer!
I made potato salad today, the potatoes in chunks the way my husband likes it, rather than mashed the way I like it. With the addition of our own home grown fresh off the plant dill and basil, the potatoes could have been latticed or coned or any old which way and I wouldn't have cared. Spectacular flavour won out over such a minute detail. My husband fried some basa filets for us. O my, that man can prepare and fry even frozen fish from the discount grocery to perfection. It was marvellous. Fresh dill and freshly squeeze lemon juice added nicely to the flavour.
Tomorrow I am hoping to do laundry. I have been stockpiling dirty clothes in hopes for a cooler day on which to run the washer and dryer, but if the forecast for the next 14 days is even somewhat close to the truth, we will both run out of clean clothes long before there is a temperature available for my convenience! I also have to call my mom and help her fill out an online survey her residence administrators have prepared so that both the residents and their families can give input on how they believe the facility has handled the pandemic outbreak. Doing with my mom will be fun.
Mom called tonight specifically because she had good news to share. She has gone round robin with Shaw Communications many times since Dad died trying to get them to understand the man is dead, so NO, they cannot talk to him to get his permission to change the mailing address on the bill, they cannot send the refund for the now returned phone box he had in the nursing home to the nursing home because the man no longer lives there......because he is DEAD....as a doornail....or a duck....take your choice of whatever it is you think something is as dead as.....aiiiii yiiiiiii!!! She tried again this morning and got nowhere with whatever useless rep she was talking to, so after steaming away about it until after lunch she called again, tried a different approach to the conversation and apparently got a rep this time who seemed to understand what was going on!!! HOPEFULLY she will get her refund cheque and her address change confirmed within the next seven business days! AAAAARGH! I am SO proud of her for not just giving up in despair and from stress. She also got her hair cut today, took a taxi to the salon and convinced the stylist to drive her home since he was obviously not very busy, she booked a bank appointment, a pedicure and an extra shower with the home care worker for next week. She is a beast doing her physio exercises for her shoulder and is regaining movement in it despite the pain. Mom has been busy getting her life together and some days she is even enjoying life in spite of the continued lockdown of her facility. Tomorrow will be a difficult day because it would have been her and Dad's 67th anniversary.
My husband, rather than being completely debilitated by his huge pruning job yesterday, woke up happy, bright eyed, keen minded and not the least bit achy. YAY husband! Since he has one more pruning job next week I am glad to know he will be able to handle it. It is much less strenuous than the one he completed last evening. He is so proud of himself for coming up with an extra source of income this month and so he should be. His health for so long has simply not permitted him the ability to do anything extra, in fact sometimes his regular schedule has almost been beyond him to accomplish. I have been seeing some very positive changes to his health in the past month. He is taking better care of himself and his diet, he is working on getting more exercise, he is resting when he needs to and pacing himself well. He is cleaning out the basement slowly but surely and actually throwing things away! The disciplines are starting to pay dividends. He has his sermon ready to record tomorrow and Sunday evening is his last service before he has 4 weeks of holidays. YAY! "Holidays"...we are using that word lightly because we can't go anywhere. We can't see my mom after all because her place has not opened up to out of province visitors yet without a mandatory quarantine in her city for 14 days prior to a visit. Drat! We can't visit my husband's family because their city is currently the epicentre of COVID19 in their province, plus they both have compromised immune systems due to cancer etc. Perhaps we will drive the new ring road around Regina one day and call it our trip away for this summer!
If all is well pandemically speaking over the weekend, we have a distancing visit planned for Monday with friends from my church, also a former pastor in what used to be more of a cult group, but went through an amazing transformation in doctrine and leadership during the time of his pastorate. What a story he and his wife have to tell about their pastoral ministry in the midst of complete denominational upheaval. Another day we are hoping to have an outdoor picnic at an out of the way spot not far from town with more friends from church. The picnic tables have just been set up again, with appropriate distancing between of course. Our friends have already been there to check things out and I think we can have a wonderful time over our sandwiches and drinks. I am already praying the wasps will not be a problem as I have no adrenaline kit this year. Our regular Old Testament reading group will be meeting one evening and that is always fun. I am completely out of my league in such an academic group, but wow, I am learning all kinds of amazing new things. It's great!
So, if the heat doesn't take me out of commission next week, it should be a happy and fulfilling one!!! Looking forward to it, especially since my case of shingles continues to heal. I went nearly 24 hours before succumbing to the pain this evening and taking one Advil at the 221/2 hour point. YAY! I will take another one before I go to bed because toughing out the pain overnight is not wise and it will be more painful because I end up lying on that side of my head without meaning to as that is the side I habitually sleep on. I have done a LOT of reading and asking questions about shingles since this virus activated, (NO, NOT online!), and it is possible it actually began on my birthday back in June with the mild outbreak of conjunctivitis followed by a month of blocked tear ducts. I won't bother going into it all, but I am feeling so much better and am SO grateful things didn't turn out to be even worse and more painful. The location of the outbreak could have been disastrous for my hearing or vision or both.
Happy weekend everyone!
After a week of rather warm temperatures around the clock each day, it appears according to the forecast that we are in for at least another week of the sweltering temperatures with very little wind after about 3pm to keep the air moving and bearable for the average prairie-ite! Whew! I am discovering that perhaps I am not as well equipped to deal with prairie summers as I thought I was. I am not surviving the constant summer heat as well as I have during previous summers, that's for sure. I am trying not to think about friends who left for a week in Panorama BC today and while I hope they have fabulous weather for him the golfer, I hope there is some relief from the heat for his family so they can just enjoy the trip without being trapped indoors in the air conditioned rooms. I was excited last evening when a late night wind and rain storm blew in and sheets of water were blowing about, but it was short lived and cooled nothing down outside. The subsequent power outage lasted longer than the storm did!
This morning I managed to get to the bank fairly early, before it got too hot outside. WONDERFUL! I didn't mind lining up to use the ATM because the lobby of the bank was air conditioned...luxury! Then I trotted off to the nearest grocery store for three badly needed items before heading home with the AC in the car at MAX setting.
Just after lunch a true blue friend came over for a distance visit. That was fun. We found a patch of shade beside our building that, with the long grass in that particular spot, would not have been fit to sit in if we actually had mosquitoes this year! Of course there are a few and I have 6 very itchy bites on my ankles to attest to that, all from a visit in a friend's back yard several days ago. Today, nada! Nary a bite. Spectacular! I am not sure why we are so short on mosquitoes this summer and I don't really care why. I am just grateful and PRAY we have the same experience next summer!
I made potato salad today, the potatoes in chunks the way my husband likes it, rather than mashed the way I like it. With the addition of our own home grown fresh off the plant dill and basil, the potatoes could have been latticed or coned or any old which way and I wouldn't have cared. Spectacular flavour won out over such a minute detail. My husband fried some basa filets for us. O my, that man can prepare and fry even frozen fish from the discount grocery to perfection. It was marvellous. Fresh dill and freshly squeeze lemon juice added nicely to the flavour.
Tomorrow I am hoping to do laundry. I have been stockpiling dirty clothes in hopes for a cooler day on which to run the washer and dryer, but if the forecast for the next 14 days is even somewhat close to the truth, we will both run out of clean clothes long before there is a temperature available for my convenience! I also have to call my mom and help her fill out an online survey her residence administrators have prepared so that both the residents and their families can give input on how they believe the facility has handled the pandemic outbreak. Doing with my mom will be fun.
Mom called tonight specifically because she had good news to share. She has gone round robin with Shaw Communications many times since Dad died trying to get them to understand the man is dead, so NO, they cannot talk to him to get his permission to change the mailing address on the bill, they cannot send the refund for the now returned phone box he had in the nursing home to the nursing home because the man no longer lives there......because he is DEAD....as a doornail....or a duck....take your choice of whatever it is you think something is as dead as.....aiiiii yiiiiiii!!! She tried again this morning and got nowhere with whatever useless rep she was talking to, so after steaming away about it until after lunch she called again, tried a different approach to the conversation and apparently got a rep this time who seemed to understand what was going on!!! HOPEFULLY she will get her refund cheque and her address change confirmed within the next seven business days! AAAAARGH! I am SO proud of her for not just giving up in despair and from stress. She also got her hair cut today, took a taxi to the salon and convinced the stylist to drive her home since he was obviously not very busy, she booked a bank appointment, a pedicure and an extra shower with the home care worker for next week. She is a beast doing her physio exercises for her shoulder and is regaining movement in it despite the pain. Mom has been busy getting her life together and some days she is even enjoying life in spite of the continued lockdown of her facility. Tomorrow will be a difficult day because it would have been her and Dad's 67th anniversary.
My husband, rather than being completely debilitated by his huge pruning job yesterday, woke up happy, bright eyed, keen minded and not the least bit achy. YAY husband! Since he has one more pruning job next week I am glad to know he will be able to handle it. It is much less strenuous than the one he completed last evening. He is so proud of himself for coming up with an extra source of income this month and so he should be. His health for so long has simply not permitted him the ability to do anything extra, in fact sometimes his regular schedule has almost been beyond him to accomplish. I have been seeing some very positive changes to his health in the past month. He is taking better care of himself and his diet, he is working on getting more exercise, he is resting when he needs to and pacing himself well. He is cleaning out the basement slowly but surely and actually throwing things away! The disciplines are starting to pay dividends. He has his sermon ready to record tomorrow and Sunday evening is his last service before he has 4 weeks of holidays. YAY! "Holidays"...we are using that word lightly because we can't go anywhere. We can't see my mom after all because her place has not opened up to out of province visitors yet without a mandatory quarantine in her city for 14 days prior to a visit. Drat! We can't visit my husband's family because their city is currently the epicentre of COVID19 in their province, plus they both have compromised immune systems due to cancer etc. Perhaps we will drive the new ring road around Regina one day and call it our trip away for this summer!
If all is well pandemically speaking over the weekend, we have a distancing visit planned for Monday with friends from my church, also a former pastor in what used to be more of a cult group, but went through an amazing transformation in doctrine and leadership during the time of his pastorate. What a story he and his wife have to tell about their pastoral ministry in the midst of complete denominational upheaval. Another day we are hoping to have an outdoor picnic at an out of the way spot not far from town with more friends from church. The picnic tables have just been set up again, with appropriate distancing between of course. Our friends have already been there to check things out and I think we can have a wonderful time over our sandwiches and drinks. I am already praying the wasps will not be a problem as I have no adrenaline kit this year. Our regular Old Testament reading group will be meeting one evening and that is always fun. I am completely out of my league in such an academic group, but wow, I am learning all kinds of amazing new things. It's great!
So, if the heat doesn't take me out of commission next week, it should be a happy and fulfilling one!!! Looking forward to it, especially since my case of shingles continues to heal. I went nearly 24 hours before succumbing to the pain this evening and taking one Advil at the 221/2 hour point. YAY! I will take another one before I go to bed because toughing out the pain overnight is not wise and it will be more painful because I end up lying on that side of my head without meaning to as that is the side I habitually sleep on. I have done a LOT of reading and asking questions about shingles since this virus activated, (NO, NOT online!), and it is possible it actually began on my birthday back in June with the mild outbreak of conjunctivitis followed by a month of blocked tear ducts. I won't bother going into it all, but I am feeling so much better and am SO grateful things didn't turn out to be even worse and more painful. The location of the outbreak could have been disastrous for my hearing or vision or both.
Happy weekend everyone!
Thursday, July 23, 2020
Some Blessings Are Almost Too Wonderful For Words!
This morning I actually slept in a bit, after a good night's sleep with only a pre-bedtime pain killer necessary (until 9:30am this morning....TWELVE hours between pills!) That was a nice blessing.
My husband also had a decent sleep and was all primed physically and mentally to tackle a big pruning job today for some friends. He felt well. He ate a decent breakfast. He took lots of water and a good sized lunch with him. He had all his pruning equipment fixed and loaded up long before he had to leave for the job. More small blessings after him feeling so exhausted for the past two days.
After he left I received my most amazing blessing in a long time. My son called me and we talked, for the first time ever, for TWO HOURS!! That has never happened before. I am so happy. He deliberately called when he knew his Dad would be away pruning trees so just the two of us could talk and he plans to do the same kind of call with his Dad in a couple of days. Then after the weekend he and his girlfriend will do a Zoom visit with us. He had also talked to my Mom before calling me. I can't believe it...a two hour chat with my son. It was wonderful and I admit that I did shed a little tear of gratitude after we hung up.
He has quite a few hours of work for August....not as many as he hoped, but certainly enough to cover his rent and expenses....there aren't many expenses with all the restaurants and theatres and galleries being closed still in NYC for the pandemic. He also MAY have two more painting sales for September. A couple of collectors who were looking at his works online prior to the art show he was supposed to have in May, have contacted the gallery to express serious interest in making purchases. So, I am praying very much that these purchases will happen. That will help support him if NYC has a serious second wave of the pandemic later in the autumn and he is unable to work again.
He is also considering moving into the rent free apt. offered to him and his girlfriend for a few months once his present lease ends on Sept. 1. She has all ready moved in for the summer and it could be nearly a year before her relatives want to return to their suite in the city. He is spending the next couple of days alone in the apt. and area while his girlfriend is at work so he can get a feel for the place. He will see if he can rent a reasonably priced studio to work in, in Harlem where other friends have their painting studios and try to figure out if this is what he wants to do. Financially it is a wonderful deal, but also, when it ends, there could be issues when reality returns to touch his wallet. His girlfriend's family is very pleased with him. Apparently when they are all together at the summer house on Long Island he makes himself useful repairing things around the house and pool, cooking and doing his share of the shopping and housework. He is just like his father that way, very useful and helpful to people who are accepting him into their homes and lives. If he makes the move into the offered apt. he can rent a van and store his furniture and other belongings at the LI summer house.
Yeah....it was a GREAT talk....unbelievable! He was so relieved that I am feeling somewhat better and that my shingles symptoms are healing. It could be another year before we see him, depending on what happens with the borders being closed between our 2 countries and whatever resurgence of the pandemic occurs over the next year, but that is okay. I am totally sure he is where he should be and as long as he is okay and happy, I can wait....particularly if we continue to have good communication over the phone and computer.
We have a fridge filled with cooked food! We have lentil soup with potatoes and carrots and onions. We have chicken breasts, peas and broccoli and cauliflower, rice, spaghetti sauce....dinner is going to be super easy to make tonight: lots of reheating and very little actual cooking....my favourite mealtime situation! hahaha
My husband also had a decent sleep and was all primed physically and mentally to tackle a big pruning job today for some friends. He felt well. He ate a decent breakfast. He took lots of water and a good sized lunch with him. He had all his pruning equipment fixed and loaded up long before he had to leave for the job. More small blessings after him feeling so exhausted for the past two days.
After he left I received my most amazing blessing in a long time. My son called me and we talked, for the first time ever, for TWO HOURS!! That has never happened before. I am so happy. He deliberately called when he knew his Dad would be away pruning trees so just the two of us could talk and he plans to do the same kind of call with his Dad in a couple of days. Then after the weekend he and his girlfriend will do a Zoom visit with us. He had also talked to my Mom before calling me. I can't believe it...a two hour chat with my son. It was wonderful and I admit that I did shed a little tear of gratitude after we hung up.
He has quite a few hours of work for August....not as many as he hoped, but certainly enough to cover his rent and expenses....there aren't many expenses with all the restaurants and theatres and galleries being closed still in NYC for the pandemic. He also MAY have two more painting sales for September. A couple of collectors who were looking at his works online prior to the art show he was supposed to have in May, have contacted the gallery to express serious interest in making purchases. So, I am praying very much that these purchases will happen. That will help support him if NYC has a serious second wave of the pandemic later in the autumn and he is unable to work again.
He is also considering moving into the rent free apt. offered to him and his girlfriend for a few months once his present lease ends on Sept. 1. She has all ready moved in for the summer and it could be nearly a year before her relatives want to return to their suite in the city. He is spending the next couple of days alone in the apt. and area while his girlfriend is at work so he can get a feel for the place. He will see if he can rent a reasonably priced studio to work in, in Harlem where other friends have their painting studios and try to figure out if this is what he wants to do. Financially it is a wonderful deal, but also, when it ends, there could be issues when reality returns to touch his wallet. His girlfriend's family is very pleased with him. Apparently when they are all together at the summer house on Long Island he makes himself useful repairing things around the house and pool, cooking and doing his share of the shopping and housework. He is just like his father that way, very useful and helpful to people who are accepting him into their homes and lives. If he makes the move into the offered apt. he can rent a van and store his furniture and other belongings at the LI summer house.
Yeah....it was a GREAT talk....unbelievable! He was so relieved that I am feeling somewhat better and that my shingles symptoms are healing. It could be another year before we see him, depending on what happens with the borders being closed between our 2 countries and whatever resurgence of the pandemic occurs over the next year, but that is okay. I am totally sure he is where he should be and as long as he is okay and happy, I can wait....particularly if we continue to have good communication over the phone and computer.
We have a fridge filled with cooked food! We have lentil soup with potatoes and carrots and onions. We have chicken breasts, peas and broccoli and cauliflower, rice, spaghetti sauce....dinner is going to be super easy to make tonight: lots of reheating and very little actual cooking....my favourite mealtime situation! hahaha
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Burnin' Up!
That is how I felt all day today, even though the actual temperature outside only made it to +30C! I must have goofed up somehow on my usual method of opening and closing blinds and windows or, more likely, the injection I had today spiked my own temperature a bit. That happens as a rule and I also feel very, very tired for the rest of the day after each treatment. I will be in good shape tomorrow. There isn't even a hint of a breeze tonight, so despite having all the windows wide open now that the sun has set, it still feels incredibly hot in here. Sleep will not come easily tonight.
I had a lovely walk to the clinic this morning. I left before 8am, so the temperature was still only about +20C. There was a slight breeze, there were very few pedestrians, I was able to walk on the shady side of the street...oh my it was pleasant. On the way home afterward I stopped at Naked Bean and purchased a cinnamon bun for my husband. In the absence of brownies since they reopened a few weeks ago, I decided to try something healthier looking for myself: a so-called "hippie bar". It was aptly named with all the oats and unsalted sunflower seeds. It even tasted like the newly organically focused 1972: truly a "rolled oats and macrame" sort of treat. In this case I think the macrame was actually included because I realized how much I detested and still do detest 1972 style "treat bars", so after eating about 1/4 of it I decided to just take the financial hit and throw the rest in the garbage. BLECCH!! Sorry Naked Bean. I am sure there are many people who really enjoy the hippie bars, but I guess I am not one of them. Next time I will purchase a scone for myself. By the way, the cinnamon buns are not as big as they used to be but the cost the same as the old ones....hint, hint??? Bigger buns or smaller price would be kind of nice....BUT at least they still taste just as wonderful as before according to my husband.Thinking about how much money Naked Bean lost through several months of pandemic closure makes me feel just fine about paying the same amount for a bit less product.
I had two naps today to sleep off the effects of the injection, but tonight my head is clear again and I have some energy. Possibly the energy is the result of the wonderful dinner my husband made tonight for us: the last 2 sausages with the last naan bread and a couple of over easy eggs. YUMMY! We never eat sausages so last night's snack and tonight's dinner were marvellous treats. Beat the kaschnabbies out of that hippie bar! hahaha
Yup, a rather quiet day here today. My husband prepared and repaired his pruning equipment for tomorrow's job and he will go to the jobsite early enough to beat the forecast afternoon thunderstorms. He and his friend don't mind loading up the tree limbs and leaves in the pouring rain, but the actual pruning needs to be completed by then. I hoped to do the laundry but it will be beastly hot again, so a poor day to be running the dryer. It can wait another day.
Received a note of appreciation today from Cee and Nan to thank all of you for praying for them. Nan has felt considerably better for the past few days and a plan is coming together for Cee in regard to his maintenance chemo.
My headache was far better today. I took an Advil at about 5am and another one at about 2pm. I will take one more before I try to sleep tonight. I have not taken as many painkillers so consistently since I broke my ankle in 2011! I don't think my kidneys are impressed so it is definitely time to wean off of them now. Each day the shingles symptoms are a little better than the day before. YAY! My husband has recovered from the trauma of his dental cleaning, so I will wait until Christmas to inform him he is going for another one at the end of January, nyaaa haaa haaa.....
I had a lovely walk to the clinic this morning. I left before 8am, so the temperature was still only about +20C. There was a slight breeze, there were very few pedestrians, I was able to walk on the shady side of the street...oh my it was pleasant. On the way home afterward I stopped at Naked Bean and purchased a cinnamon bun for my husband. In the absence of brownies since they reopened a few weeks ago, I decided to try something healthier looking for myself: a so-called "hippie bar". It was aptly named with all the oats and unsalted sunflower seeds. It even tasted like the newly organically focused 1972: truly a "rolled oats and macrame" sort of treat. In this case I think the macrame was actually included because I realized how much I detested and still do detest 1972 style "treat bars", so after eating about 1/4 of it I decided to just take the financial hit and throw the rest in the garbage. BLECCH!! Sorry Naked Bean. I am sure there are many people who really enjoy the hippie bars, but I guess I am not one of them. Next time I will purchase a scone for myself. By the way, the cinnamon buns are not as big as they used to be but the cost the same as the old ones....hint, hint??? Bigger buns or smaller price would be kind of nice....BUT at least they still taste just as wonderful as before according to my husband.Thinking about how much money Naked Bean lost through several months of pandemic closure makes me feel just fine about paying the same amount for a bit less product.
I had two naps today to sleep off the effects of the injection, but tonight my head is clear again and I have some energy. Possibly the energy is the result of the wonderful dinner my husband made tonight for us: the last 2 sausages with the last naan bread and a couple of over easy eggs. YUMMY! We never eat sausages so last night's snack and tonight's dinner were marvellous treats. Beat the kaschnabbies out of that hippie bar! hahaha
Yup, a rather quiet day here today. My husband prepared and repaired his pruning equipment for tomorrow's job and he will go to the jobsite early enough to beat the forecast afternoon thunderstorms. He and his friend don't mind loading up the tree limbs and leaves in the pouring rain, but the actual pruning needs to be completed by then. I hoped to do the laundry but it will be beastly hot again, so a poor day to be running the dryer. It can wait another day.
Received a note of appreciation today from Cee and Nan to thank all of you for praying for them. Nan has felt considerably better for the past few days and a plan is coming together for Cee in regard to his maintenance chemo.
My headache was far better today. I took an Advil at about 5am and another one at about 2pm. I will take one more before I try to sleep tonight. I have not taken as many painkillers so consistently since I broke my ankle in 2011! I don't think my kidneys are impressed so it is definitely time to wean off of them now. Each day the shingles symptoms are a little better than the day before. YAY! My husband has recovered from the trauma of his dental cleaning, so I will wait until Christmas to inform him he is going for another one at the end of January, nyaaa haaa haaa.....
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
So Today Felt About As Normal As Possible Despite Continuing Pandemic "Stuff"! YAY!
I am grateful for today! There were many ups and downs like most days, lots of joys and some frustrations, but for some reason, maybe because I was more active than is usual lately the day was kind of healing emotionally for me.
We began our day rather early: at about 3:30am the power went off, sending me into hyperspace when our old computer battery backup unit began its ungodly squeal! I was so startled out my deep sleep that I went stumbling into the office, flipping light switches in every room and completely confused when they didn't come on. I felt around the desk top frantically in the pitch black but couldn't locate the shut off button in my stupor. Finally I realized there was a power outage, found my way back to my bedside table for a flashlight, went back into the office and eventually located the shut off button for the unit. Good grief! After all our upset about the noisy neighbour next door a few months ago, here we were likely waking the entire building with the shrieking battery backup. Sigh.....
My husband had a rather fitful sleep for the rest of the early morning hours and I barely slept at all. The horrible noise set off the pain in the top of my head again and I had to take 2 painkillers to get it calmed down. Since I stupidly took them on an empty stomach at 4am, of course I was too nauseated to sleep after that. I read until 5am, then finally fell asleep....until twenty minutes later when the power finally came on again and I discovered the computer printer had been left on after its last use. I discovered that because of the shuffle, shuffle, klunk noise it makes when it comes back on after an outage. The bright overhead bedroom light that also came back on and hit me square in the eyelids didn't help either. Sigh.....
I tossed and turned, read a book for awhile, wished I could pull my hair out in frustration, but it would have hurt my painful scalp too much! SO, guess these shingles are good for SOMETHING! hahaha Shortly after 6am I managed to fall asleep. At 6:20am I was startled awake again by a single honking horn coming from the street outside. Wow, it seemed loud and non-stop! I jumped out of bed and opened the window curtain to see what the problem was. It was a driver who had stopped in the middle of the street to blast his horn at a lone goose who was crossing the street on (webbed) foot. There was plenty of room for the driver to have changed lanes and simply driven around the goose. He wouldn't have had to even slow down, but no, he sat there beeping his horn over and over and over and over and over....
At that point I gave up trying to sleep. I had to get up less than an hour later to get my husband and I to our dental appointments. Happy times for me, not so great for my husband.
It turned out we had been scheduled with two different hygienists, but not at the same time after all. My husband's appointment was an hour earlier than mine. With the COVID19 restrictions one of us was not allowed to wait in the waiting room for an appointment while the other one was having an appointment. So, I sat in the car alone for an entire hour waiting my turn. It is just as well I hadn't brought a book to read because I was so tired that all I remember of that hour is sitting and staring at the brick wall of the building in front of the car! If any thoughts actually went through my head I have no recollection of them now!
I was concerned about my cleaning because it had been over 8 months since the last one due to the COVID19 cancellation of my last appointment. I needn't have worried. My cleaning, x-rays and checkup by the dentist were all over less than 25 minutes after I arrived. I was thrilled! (cost of cleaning....$49) Back to the car I went to wait for my husband who was still having his appointment.
My husband was less fortunate than I was....poor baby. It had been six years since his last visit to a dentist. HIS cleaning and examination lasted for 1 hour and 50 minutes! (cost of cleaning $168!) He emerged from the office white faced, shaking and nauseated, with a severe back spasm and headache. He hadn't slept much during the night because of worrying about his dental appointment and certainly hadn't been prepared to be in the chair for nearly 2 hours. He made himself a large bowl of cream of wheat for lunch and went to bed for several hours to recover! Just wait until he finds out I have him booked for another cleaning 6 months from now! teehee WELL, he needs to find out that his next cleaning will be nothing like today's ordeal, because it will only have been six months since his cleaning today, not six years!!
I came home to an email from a very lonely friend hinting broadly that she surely would like a visit today, so after lunch I arranged a visit with her at her home. It was lovely and another friend arrived unexpectedly, so we made a little triangle of sofas in her living room so we could social distance comfortably. What a lovely afternoon. I think I have been feeling a bit lonely too because the level of my enjoyment of the visit was rather higher than a simple visit with friends warrants. hahaha
After the visit I went to the pharmacy to pick up my injection meds for my doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, a very EARLY tomorrow morning! What a surprise to discover a huge poster on the pharmacy door advising all customers that the store had experienced a complete crash of their computer system and the store would have to be closed until further notice!! WHAAAAAA???? I couldn't get my time sensitive injectable meds and there was nothing to be done about it. My doctor's doctor husband was standing outside the door with me and he was freaking out. He had wandered over from the clinic to ask the pharmacist why the prescriptions he was faxxing in for his patients were not being received. There was no point in freaking out. The pharmacist was doing all he could to get tech support and get the system up and running but to no avail. I returned to the pharmacy 3 hours later and they were still closed, so I started trying to figure out how on earth I was going to manage to wait an extra day or two for the meds and still have them be effective. It was a tad nerve wracking.
I went home to make dinner and found my husband awake, feeling much better and busy making carrot and onion soup! That certainly made for a wonderful dinner as he put lots of freshly grown dill into it....fantastic! He was feeling well enough to attend Old Testament study with me and also stop to assess and estimate a third yard maintenance job for the same colleague he did pruning for last week. Tonight's study was on the book of Job...again with Job....but it was really good. There were wonderful insights, plenty of laughter and the joy of the warm weather making it possible for us to meet outside on a large, flower bordered deck at our host's house. After the study we decided to make one more attempt to get my meds and thank the Lord, the pharmacy was open. They had been without a computer system for the better part of 12 hours, losing countless sales today. I was so blessed to be able to get my prescription and not have the hassle I had last time when one of the codes needed to get full coverage from my insurance company hadn't been put into my file. I joyfully handed the cashier the one dollar for my regularly priced four hundred and ninety dollar prescription and almost ran for the car in case a mistake had been made and the pharmacist was going to call be me back! hahaha
Home to a phone call from my mom, so I helped her straighten out some paperwork she didn't understand, then emailed a friend to tell her I was sorry we were out tonight when she dropped by. And now I am ready to attempt to sleep once again....it was a good day....a more pre-COVID19 normal kind of day...friends, appointments, disruptions, home cooked meals....just a really wonderful "mental health" kind of day for me, although my husband isn't quite as jazzed about our day as he had such a miserable morning that resulted in him having to cancel a visit with a friend of his this afternoon...BUT he was able to rebook for tomorrow and that is a good thing!
We began our day rather early: at about 3:30am the power went off, sending me into hyperspace when our old computer battery backup unit began its ungodly squeal! I was so startled out my deep sleep that I went stumbling into the office, flipping light switches in every room and completely confused when they didn't come on. I felt around the desk top frantically in the pitch black but couldn't locate the shut off button in my stupor. Finally I realized there was a power outage, found my way back to my bedside table for a flashlight, went back into the office and eventually located the shut off button for the unit. Good grief! After all our upset about the noisy neighbour next door a few months ago, here we were likely waking the entire building with the shrieking battery backup. Sigh.....
My husband had a rather fitful sleep for the rest of the early morning hours and I barely slept at all. The horrible noise set off the pain in the top of my head again and I had to take 2 painkillers to get it calmed down. Since I stupidly took them on an empty stomach at 4am, of course I was too nauseated to sleep after that. I read until 5am, then finally fell asleep....until twenty minutes later when the power finally came on again and I discovered the computer printer had been left on after its last use. I discovered that because of the shuffle, shuffle, klunk noise it makes when it comes back on after an outage. The bright overhead bedroom light that also came back on and hit me square in the eyelids didn't help either. Sigh.....
I tossed and turned, read a book for awhile, wished I could pull my hair out in frustration, but it would have hurt my painful scalp too much! SO, guess these shingles are good for SOMETHING! hahaha Shortly after 6am I managed to fall asleep. At 6:20am I was startled awake again by a single honking horn coming from the street outside. Wow, it seemed loud and non-stop! I jumped out of bed and opened the window curtain to see what the problem was. It was a driver who had stopped in the middle of the street to blast his horn at a lone goose who was crossing the street on (webbed) foot. There was plenty of room for the driver to have changed lanes and simply driven around the goose. He wouldn't have had to even slow down, but no, he sat there beeping his horn over and over and over and over and over....
At that point I gave up trying to sleep. I had to get up less than an hour later to get my husband and I to our dental appointments. Happy times for me, not so great for my husband.
It turned out we had been scheduled with two different hygienists, but not at the same time after all. My husband's appointment was an hour earlier than mine. With the COVID19 restrictions one of us was not allowed to wait in the waiting room for an appointment while the other one was having an appointment. So, I sat in the car alone for an entire hour waiting my turn. It is just as well I hadn't brought a book to read because I was so tired that all I remember of that hour is sitting and staring at the brick wall of the building in front of the car! If any thoughts actually went through my head I have no recollection of them now!
I was concerned about my cleaning because it had been over 8 months since the last one due to the COVID19 cancellation of my last appointment. I needn't have worried. My cleaning, x-rays and checkup by the dentist were all over less than 25 minutes after I arrived. I was thrilled! (cost of cleaning....$49) Back to the car I went to wait for my husband who was still having his appointment.
My husband was less fortunate than I was....poor baby. It had been six years since his last visit to a dentist. HIS cleaning and examination lasted for 1 hour and 50 minutes! (cost of cleaning $168!) He emerged from the office white faced, shaking and nauseated, with a severe back spasm and headache. He hadn't slept much during the night because of worrying about his dental appointment and certainly hadn't been prepared to be in the chair for nearly 2 hours. He made himself a large bowl of cream of wheat for lunch and went to bed for several hours to recover! Just wait until he finds out I have him booked for another cleaning 6 months from now! teehee WELL, he needs to find out that his next cleaning will be nothing like today's ordeal, because it will only have been six months since his cleaning today, not six years!!
I came home to an email from a very lonely friend hinting broadly that she surely would like a visit today, so after lunch I arranged a visit with her at her home. It was lovely and another friend arrived unexpectedly, so we made a little triangle of sofas in her living room so we could social distance comfortably. What a lovely afternoon. I think I have been feeling a bit lonely too because the level of my enjoyment of the visit was rather higher than a simple visit with friends warrants. hahaha
After the visit I went to the pharmacy to pick up my injection meds for my doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, a very EARLY tomorrow morning! What a surprise to discover a huge poster on the pharmacy door advising all customers that the store had experienced a complete crash of their computer system and the store would have to be closed until further notice!! WHAAAAAA???? I couldn't get my time sensitive injectable meds and there was nothing to be done about it. My doctor's doctor husband was standing outside the door with me and he was freaking out. He had wandered over from the clinic to ask the pharmacist why the prescriptions he was faxxing in for his patients were not being received. There was no point in freaking out. The pharmacist was doing all he could to get tech support and get the system up and running but to no avail. I returned to the pharmacy 3 hours later and they were still closed, so I started trying to figure out how on earth I was going to manage to wait an extra day or two for the meds and still have them be effective. It was a tad nerve wracking.
I went home to make dinner and found my husband awake, feeling much better and busy making carrot and onion soup! That certainly made for a wonderful dinner as he put lots of freshly grown dill into it....fantastic! He was feeling well enough to attend Old Testament study with me and also stop to assess and estimate a third yard maintenance job for the same colleague he did pruning for last week. Tonight's study was on the book of Job...again with Job....but it was really good. There were wonderful insights, plenty of laughter and the joy of the warm weather making it possible for us to meet outside on a large, flower bordered deck at our host's house. After the study we decided to make one more attempt to get my meds and thank the Lord, the pharmacy was open. They had been without a computer system for the better part of 12 hours, losing countless sales today. I was so blessed to be able to get my prescription and not have the hassle I had last time when one of the codes needed to get full coverage from my insurance company hadn't been put into my file. I joyfully handed the cashier the one dollar for my regularly priced four hundred and ninety dollar prescription and almost ran for the car in case a mistake had been made and the pharmacist was going to call be me back! hahaha
Home to a phone call from my mom, so I helped her straighten out some paperwork she didn't understand, then emailed a friend to tell her I was sorry we were out tonight when she dropped by. And now I am ready to attempt to sleep once again....it was a good day....a more pre-COVID19 normal kind of day...friends, appointments, disruptions, home cooked meals....just a really wonderful "mental health" kind of day for me, although my husband isn't quite as jazzed about our day as he had such a miserable morning that resulted in him having to cancel a visit with a friend of his this afternoon...BUT he was able to rebook for tomorrow and that is a good thing!
Sunday, July 19, 2020
A Mission I Respect and Believe In (The Links May Not Work, But All The Info Is Below)
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We never thought we would hear those words at the Siem Reap garbage dump but since many hotels, restaurants, businesses are closed due to lack of tourists; there is also a less garbage. Now the garbage trucks drop off their loads only twice a day, at 9pm and 11pm. So the villagers go at 9pm, and then scavenge until 4am when it is getting light, then go home to sleep.
The village is estimated to have a 90% unemployment rate. Normally, about 100 scavengers scrounge for recycle material and rotting food for their animals. Now there are over 500 men and women sifting through the nightly garbage, working longer in the toxic conditions of waste, sharp objects that cut through shoes, with the flies, disease and smells.
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We began to produce masks when we restarted and now to date, we have seen over 5000 masks sold in Cambodia, Canada, UK, Germany and Switzerland. At $1USD/mask (when purchased in bulk) these two layer, new t-shirt fabric masks are a bargain. Furthermore, our designs are flexible. We have made changes so that there will be metal nose pieces that can also be removed and re-inserted for washing purposes. For a small additional cost, we can also have them silk screened or labeled for those who may want their own designs or branding on them.
To Order Face Masks click here...
Clothed in Dignity wants to be a part of an affordable solution that helps prevent the spread of the virus. Furthermore, the sales are supporting the workers and their families as they provide food, pay down accumulated debt and continue to develop genuine gratitude for how God has been with them through this difficult time.
We also received a good sized order for t-shirts and t-dresses from a local church. With these small signs of success we are experiencing, we took a step of faith to employ two more struggling ladies who previously worked with us during the greeting card program. Sometimes it is scary and we feel the weight of responsibility when we realize that our businesses must provide full time work for 14 people and their families! Since Cambodia has no welfare programs, these families are depending on our small social enterprise businesses to survive. So we want to thank you, because by God’s grace and through your help, we are able to help these people.
Through daily devotions, we learn so many things about the ladies and their families and often it is about their struggles with never any time to rest. So they turn to drinking, drugs, gambling to escape their reality. But God provides! A kind person wanted to pay for a small celebration. So this past Friday, to celebrate their hard work, we took the men and ladies on a paid work day to have an outing to Kulen Mountain.
It is a beautiful area with waterfalls and small pools of fresh water for kids to be able to play and rest while eating lunch. It is only 1 hour from their village, and yet most have only been there once or twice. They were so appreciative and it was so fun to see God’s creation together with them and watch them relaxing with their own families.
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The journey for the men who learn and work here is one of discovery, where they see themselves as more than just day labourers, outsiders to their own families, pressured by society to conform to evil vices that bring only hopelessness and despair. Now these men are regular employees who put in a good and creative 5 days of work, who now have the time and energy to spend with their families and are blessed to be a blessing for their communities. Men here usually view child care as women's work - that's why we want to continue to find ways to bring the men and children together.
We are looking to God to provide the resources to be able to build more playgrounds – starting with one for the local primary school across from the garbage dump, where all of our worker's children go and one for the community where the shop is. We are also exploring the possibility of providing equipment infrastructure in the establishment of programs for food security (more on this in Q4 of this year). We are excited about the future.
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