I am back at home with recovered WiFi and so can write about a couple of memories I will have to enjoy after taking Mom on the picnic: I will remember the look of excitement on her face when we told her we were taking her to Little Elbow Falls area for the picnic and I will remember how much she LOVED sitting on a bench after our meal...the bench was so close to the rushing river and it was quite a thrill for her to be able to see all that water racing past.
I will also remember handing her a newly opened bottle of distilled water to drink with her sandwich. Before I could give her a glass to pour the water into, she picked up the bottle and took a big swig out of the top of it. She smacked her lips and informed us that, "I have never taken a drink directly out of a bottle ever before in my life. This is the first time!!" She was SO proud of herself. We laughed and laughed. She seemed to think she had truly gotten away with something sneaky! hahahaha Generally she will only eat half a sandwich at a time for lunch with no dessert. This time when I asked her if I could repack the second half of her sandwich and her muffin to take home, she glared at me and announced that, "I am eating the WHOLE THING!!!!" And she did!! She declared that as a result she would not eat dinner, but she actually ate TWO strips of pork loin, scalloped potatoes and some kind of soup....and of course the maple walnut iced cream served for dessert. hahaha How cute is she???
After we packed up our picnic, we drove back to Calgary by taking a big circular route past Priddis and Spruce Meadows, so that Mom could see all the road construction going on in areas that used to be familiar to her, but that have changed in appearance rather drastically with the addition of new overpasses and interchanges. By the time we got her home she was happily exhausted and confessed to us that evening that she had taken a short nap before her dinner. haha My mother does NOT nap...EVER! I hope she will make a habit of it to keep her energy going the rest of the time. I do see some changes in her that indicate she is starting to feel her age more, so I wonder what life has in store for her over the winter, when, even if she has more chances to escape her residence if the Corona virus numbers drop in her city over the next month, the cold winter weather will once again leave her trapped inside. Lots of concerns for her, but for the present things are positive and she is happy most of the time.
After we dropped Mom back at her place my husband and I had a rest before returning to Mom's place after her dinner hour was over. It was our last time to chat for this visit so we made the most of it and barely got out of her place prior to the 8pm visitor curfew. We DO know how to talk and talk and talk some more. Mom gave us a cheery wave this time as we left instead of bursting into tears, so that was encouraging. I asked her on the phone today if she had experienced any sadness this time upon our departure and she admitted she didn't because she knows we are there for her whether or not we are in her city.
We had a short but decent sleep last night, not waking up until closer to 5:30am. We were packed up and on the road again at 6:30am after a quick breakfast. Today there was no feeling of stress, no sense that "We HAVE to get home as soon as possible!!" So although the short sleep and the intense heat of the day made us tired by the time we got home, it was a most pleasant drive. The lack of August holiday traffic, thanks to the pandemic keeping more people at home this summer, also contributed to the excellent trip. We braved a restaurant meal in Swift Current along the route, at Original Joe's and we have to commend the staff there for their attention to cleaning the tables and chairs, distancing the customers, insisting on everyone following the directional arrows on the floor, wearing masks and providing two very delicious lunches. They kept the traffic moving in the restaurant. Customers were not encouraged to linger after finishing their meals. The dishes were whisked away as soon as the last bite of food passed lips and bills followed immediately afterward. With only half capacity seating and people lining up outside I don't blame them. They were fantastic at letting people know it was time to leave, without making anyone feel like we were being booted out the door. We noticed in Calgary that a lot of the online restaurant websites listed "Table Times" along with their menu items. Customers were allowed to spend anywhere from 45 minutes to 90 minutes from the time of arrival to the time of departure in the restaurant, depending on the type of food served. Very efficient and very smart as these businesses attempt to recover from the disaster of the pandemic and keep their doors open.
I will be so happy when these daily high temperatures of +33C to +37C are over. Looks like we have another two very hot days here before the weather begins a slow cool down by the end of the weekend. Tonight we had a short lived thunder storm with teeming rain that poured through our open kitchen window to pool on the floor, but the raindrops fell straight down in big sheets of water. There wasn't so much as a breeze along with it...so unusual for even such a brief prairie storm. Even with the floor fan running all night I don't think we will sleep very long or very soundly.
About fifteen minutes after we arrived home I got a call from Madison's Furniture informing me that the dining room chairs I ordered nearly 8 weeks ago have finally arrived on their truck that comes up from the USA. I was expecting to have to wait another month at least, but no, they are here! YIPPEE! Tomorrow morning I will drive up to their loading dock and collect them. O how hard I am praying that they are the actual chairs I ordered and that they go with our new dining room table as well as I thought they would when I ordered them! Yikes...here's hoping that my husband doesn't hate them. Usually he is very involved in the choosing of new furniture but wasn't able to be this time and I am afraid he will be disappointed in them or find them uncomfortable. My fear is that I didn't match the wood finish with the table as well as I think I did. Anyway whatever they turn out to be, that is what we will be using for chairs for a long time to come. I am just happy they actually arrived!!! SOMETHING NEW IN OUR SUITE....NOT FROM THE SECOND HAND STORE OR OFFICE SUPPLY....YAY!! Okay, despite my fears about how suitable they will turn out to be, I am pretty excited to be bringing them home tomorrow.
Thank you for your prayers praying friends and family. We had an excellent trip, accomplished a lot of business for and with Mom and had time this visit for some meaningful fun as well. There were enough "holiday" elements crammed into the 4 days to make it feel like a true break from the same old same old. Thankful for that...SO thankful! I don't even mind that I slopped bleach from the cleaning cloths, given to us by Mom's facility to wipe down her chairs and other surfaces we touched in her suite, all down the front of my favourite summer dress, requiring me to put into the garbage that night. That is how good a time I had!
PS: I learned something on this trip. I learned that $75 can purchase many onsale paper products....for example: it can purchase 108 rolls of toilet paper, plus 8 giant rolls of paper towels and 6 large boxes of tissues! (Penelope, take note as I think this will be of interest to you!) I also learned as a result of this intial knowlege, that my car can hold that much extra "stuff" as well as all our suitcases and other travel "stuff"! I like our car...I like paper product sales too!
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