A Few Pix To Start With

 Here is the crazy paint job my husband did on our tire rims....you can't miss us now, that's for sure. Fortunately our son is not easily embarrassed by his parents!

Our son has friends at home with a new  boat, so he is enjoying travelling around with them on the Hudson River on the weekends.

In Paris he stayed at an Air B&B. It was an apartment owned by a scientific researcher who travels the world and it was filled with eccentric collections of books and artifacts. After a few days of installing his boss's art, enjoying daily limosine service and gallery sponsored French dinners each evening, he retired to the luxurious apartment.  Here he is in the "butterfly room":

Still waiting for the family photos, so will try to post a couple of those tomorrow.  My husband is exhausted this evening so is flaked out in front of the television. I will get the photos from his camera tomorrow.

The weather was very gentle on us today: a high of about +7, very little wind, plus sunshine graced us all day long.  We enjoyed church services here in town and then had a fabulous lunch with friends: spinach quiche, REAL Greek salad (no lettuce, thank the Lord), and a Dutch apple kuchen with slivered almonds for dessert.  A nice light sparkling Portugese wine that we drank before lunch had us ready for the wonderful fare our hostess prepared. The visit was even better than the meal. Oh, how we enjoyed ourselves.  Thank you Lord!!

Photos To Follow

It surely is wonderful to be home again, although our trip itself was great fun!  We slept well last night and when we woke up at 6:30am today, we had a relaxed breakfast and a calm time of packing up while we assessed the weather and road conditions before heading out.  Since there was still some ice on the roadways and sticky snow all over our vehicle after rain and sleet overnight, we waited until nearly 8:30am to go out and start the car, to scrape the night's build up off the windows and mirrors and door handles.  We are so happy that we waited that two hours because it gave other traffic a chance to melt the ice on the highway east to Strathmore.  Once we were a few kilometres east of Strathmore, the highway was completely clear and dry the rest of the way home. How blessed are we, right???  I know God certainly didn't arrange for the change in weather forecast for Calgary and area just for us to be able to travel safely today, but it certainly felt like he did! hahaha  It was a beautiful autumn day for travelling and enjoying the trip.

We lunched at Mauro's in Medicine Hat, took advantage of a 13 cent per litre price discount at the gasoline station in Walsh, then cruised home the rest of the way chatting about our visit with my mom and our son, about the fabulous meals we prepared and consumed and how best to make a trip safely back to see Mom once winter finally arrives in all its blustery, icy fullness.

It was a joy to discover a number of Calgary hotels are returning to having kitchenettes or mini kitchens of one style or another. Thanks to us booking into two such hotels, we didn't have to drag our food box, cooler, ice packs and picnic pack with us.  We could shop for necessary groceries near the hotels and prepare meals happily. It made for a much easier trip for us, less hassle, more room in the vehicle....next time we go to see Mom we will choose one of these hotels.  They are less expensive than our usual place and actually provide more useable services for us.  What a treat that mini-kitchens are slowly becoming en vogue once again!!  YAY!!

We have a few photos since some of you have asked to see The Fam etc., so once I get them downloaded off my husband's and son's phone cameras I will post them with a few explanations. Not sure how many days that will take, but they are coming, I promise.

Tomorrow morning is my husband's Sunday off from his own parish duties, so he is coming with me to my church and then we have a luncheon invitation from friends there.  What a lovely homecoming!

And now to bed....kinda early for me, but nothing exhausts me more than sitting in a car for the better part of 8 hours with little exercise! 

A Special Day

 Our son’s flight to Vancouver is in the air from Calgary. He should be landing there around 8pm, depositing his luggage at the apt. where he is staying, then taking a taxi to the home of his Vancouver “family”  who are holding dinner until he arrives. Our son is “uncle” to their 18 year old son, a young man who suffered all through school, as our son did, for being uber creative instead of a sports nut. They are both mentally strong, very content with who they are and they survived the bullying just fine.  Our son has mentored and advised him for the last 12 years, enjoying every minute of it. 

We had a rainy drive from Medicine Hat into Calgary this morning, but none of the forecast snow, hallelujah! We picked Mom up in the late morning, took her shopping, then out for lunch at her favourite dinner. Oooh, the joy on her face when her grandson walked into her suite was sweet to see! He had a wonderful visit with her at her place after lunch while my husband and I cleaned her shower chair so the bottoms of the chair legs stick properly to the floor of the shower and invented a better way for her to see where she is setting the heat on her thermostat. The numbers are so tiny she cannot see where to set it, so my husband attached a coffee stir stick to the bottom of the control lever. Under the thermostat he put a strip of tape under the wall with the same degree settings as appear on the thermostat. Mom can move the lever until the bottom of the stir stick matches the temperature she wants her suite to be with the numbers of the strip of tape.  She tested it and it worked well for her. Yay! 

After the visit and some teary goodbyes to Mom we drove up to our hotel near the airport. My husband and I checked in and unloaded our luggage while our son repacked for his flight. Then we headed out for what was to be a light dinner at Kinjo Tokyo Street Market. Instead of a light dinner our meal evolved into a celebratory farewell extravaganza! Originally we thought a few pieces of sushi would suffice, but by the time we left the restaurant we were filled to bursting with edamame, avocado rolls, salmon rolls, tuna sushi, pickled mackerel sushi, tuna belly and shallots sushi, potato croquettes, chicken karage, ginger beef, and green tea ice cream adorned with whipped cream and green tea Pokky! Aiii yiiii.....so much for a light snack. It was MARVELLOUS!!!!!!!! Yummy! It was so nice to see so many little Caucasian kids there wolfing down platesful of healthy sushi! 

Hugs at the airport after dinner were somewhat prolonged tonight, but we dropped our son off at security with the happy hope that he will be back next spring. We all survived a nearly two year separation, so five or six months doesn’t seem like that big a deal! Hallelujah! 

As we sit here looking out at the night, we are finally seeing the snow falling in sufficient quantity to stick to the ground. We may take our time leaving tomorrow to give morning traffic a chance to melt any accumulated snow and ice off the highway. We want to get home tomorrow so we can check out any flooding in our basement after today’s heavy rains in Regina. Praying for safe travel

The Last Day!

 Today is our last day with our son. We are sad to be taking him to the airport tonight. However, it has been a wonderful visit and I am thankful for it. He and his girlfriend are already making plans to come back together to see us next year. Christmas is not the time after all. The cost of flights is already prohibitive and we decided that for once it would be much more fun if they came in the spring, summer or even the autumn when it is not bitterly cold and icy outside. All the art galleries and museums close over the holidays anyway and there is little to do of any interest. So, they are aiming for an early spring visit. Yay!! 

This dumpy hotel turned out to be full of work crews and I am grateful for that. It meant the hotel was quiet by 8:30pm. I slept for about three hours before waking up at 2am for my usual fight, in any bed but my own, to get a proper sleep. It is partly because spending the day in the car means insufficient exercise. My muscles don’t relax without lots of exercise each day. By the time we finished dinner last night it was too cold and dark to go walking safely. 

Dinner was a relaxed affair at Mauro’s neighbourhood pub. I had a grilled chicken burger, sans the bun and it had a huge slice of grilled yellow pepper plus two giant slices of tasty tomato and two large lettuce leaves in case I wanted to make a lettuce wrap since I didn’t have the Kaiser bun. I had a handful of onion rings with it and they had been properly drained. There was not one spot of greasy oil on my plate. What a rare treat. My son’s half order of nachos was still enough for two people and my husband’s bowl of pasta was so large he was unable to finish his meal. Both their meals were well prepared and presented. We took our time  eating and visiting and laughing a lot. It was a nice evening after the usual monotonous prairie drive. Hopefully this can be our last trip out this way for awhile. 

Today we drive into snow that will continue to fall all day in Calgary. Looks like flurries may follow us at least part of the way home tomorrow, but fortunately we have our snow tires on the car. I will be grateful to get home and begin winter hibernation. I am getting excited about my husband’s retirement at the end of this year. I won’t have to worry about him being out on the highway going to his churches on Sundays. Thank you Lord! 

Hmmmmm.....Well, Um......

 Lovely, uneventful drive today and if you ever need to know what hotel in Medicine Hat NOT to stay in, I can now let you know.....eep! My husband should not have picked this trip to experiment with a different hotel, but at least the carpet in our son’s room has been newly replaced. Ours however.....oh well, it is only for one night, thank The Lord!!

Aaaaaaaannnndddd.....We’re Off.....

 Heading west today so we can spend tomorrow with grandma, then our son will fly from there to Vancouver tomorrow evening.  We are driving into snow and then more flurries on the way home the following day. Guess I should take my winter boots with me just in case Calgary gets its usual “surprisingly more snow than forecast”, hahaha. Praying for safety as we drive and for Mom to be feeling well tomorrow, for no flight cancellations for our son and for safe highway travels. It has been a relaxing time here at what our son refers to as his parents’ Haven of Rest. Glad we can provide a bit of a break for him as he prepares to race around Vancouver for a week getting business taken care of and seeing old friends. All too soon this visit is coming to an end, but it has been sweet. Thank you Lord! 

Oink, Oink, Oink.....

 Our son went grocery shopping this week and bought the supplies he needed for a three course Szechuan feast, which he prepared yesterday. Over two hours of prep and stir frying he prepared two vegetable dishes, one with thinly sliced red pepper, narrow strips of shallot and fresh ginger, whole baby bok choi, jalapeño pepper, garlic and green onion. Another was man ear mushrooms with thin strips of cucumber in a sweet sauce and the third was diced chicken thighs with shiitake mushrooms and garlic rounds. Who knew those odiferous dried mushrooms could be reconstituted to produce such soft and delicate morsels? (apart from every oriental cook in the world of course) With the addition of a large pot of jasmine rice there was a huge amount of food....and we ate it ALL!!!!! Oh dear.......but it was just so tasty....

That Went Well!! YIPPEE!!!

 The day had many positives! 

This morning when I thought I was going to have to be tied up half the day to complete a bank transaction via telephone and computer, I found out that some of the financial advisors at my branch are back in the office and receiving clients once again. Yay!!!! So, I was able to make an appointment for tomorrow and the entire transaction will be wrapped up in about 20 minutes! Amen!!! 

This afternoon I had my annual check up with my osteoporosis specialist and it went very well. He showed me the results of my last bone densitometry and to say they are encouraging is an understatement! After five years on Prolia injections my bone density has risen to what is considered normal range for my age group. It has taken exactly 21 years total of various treatments to achieve this state of recovery and I am beyond thrilled. So, rather than risk a setback so soon after achieving this near miracle, I will have another 15 months of injections to take me up to my next bone densitometry and see what the results are then. There are insufficient long term studies as yet regarding the long term effectiveness or eventual ineffectiveness of this drug, long term side effects, etc. My specialist is currently reading every published report, pro and con, about staying on this medication after bone density is recovered. His office will contact me if anything new and startling in the meantime is discovered that would require a change of plan. I feel extremely blessed and grateful for my present outcome. I left the office nearly dancing with joy. I walked home and barely noticed the howling winds! 

This evening we decided it was time for some pub grub, as there are no pubs is NYC and our son misses them. We contacted The Tap about overseas isolation procedures, then drove to the pub and were given a very private corner away from the few other customers, kept our masks on every time the server ventured near, sanitized our hands several times and enjoyed a brief mealtime there. It was splendid!!! We had a blast! After dinner we watched a boxing match at home on tv that we all enjoyed immensely.

A lovely day all around. Tomorrow evening we will enjoy the Chinese meal our son is preparing! 

Wow, We Needed This!!

 As the visit with our son progesses, we are all realizing we needed this family interaction even more than we thought we did.  It has been a peaceful time of sharing, feasting, taking walks in the freezing, damp, bitter winds and just enjoying presence.  Last night we watched a couple of boxing matches on tv, which our son appreciated. Although he is not "into" boxing like we are, he has a good friend at home who is a huge fan and so now our son is getting more information about boxing that will stand him in good stead when he and his friend get together again.  Yesterday we did Zoom church together in the morning and that was really great fun.  It would have been nice to go in person, but we want to spend most of our time for the first few days away from other people, just in case my son picked up Covid19 virus on the plane before he arrived.  

There will soon be a grocery shopping trip so that our son can pick up the grocery items he needs at the oriental stores to make us a Szechuan chicken dish for dinner one of these evenings.  I will have a photo posted soon of him cooking up a storm.  He is sort of a Renaissance man like his dad, so good at so many different tasks. I feel like a complete dud around the pair of them, although fortunately they don't view me that way. hahaha  We will do one meal at a local pub we all like, but mostly we are just feasting here at home.  We have time for one trip to the MacKenzie Art Gallery before leaving to head west.  

This afternoon I have my annual appointment with my bone specialist.  It is the least onerous appointment I have from year to year.  I am grateful to have it over with for another year, to renew my prescription and get set up for another year of coverage for my meds, set up my next bone densitometry etc.  He is a very detail oriented fellow, this doctor and I always feel like I have learned something new about my condition after each appointment.

Later this week we are driving to Calgary with our son to spend a day with Mom.  She is so excited to have all 3 of us there with her, even for just a day.  It will be fun. We will take her for lunch and to London Drugs for her to top up her "wants" from there, then have a visit in her suite before taking our son to the airport for his trip to Vancouver.  My mom is making her preparations emotionally and mentally to die as soon as she can convince God to take her, so I wonder how long she will last after this visit. It seems very important that we all make the trip, even though my husband and I will only be there for 1 day before we have to turn around and come back home.  I am so very happy to be able to sneak in this one "extra" pre-snow and ice (from my mouth to God's ear) visit that was unplanned until just a few days ago.  

The weather here is really yukky for strong winds and some rain, BUT no snow or ice on the ground yet.  In fact the worst weather on our trip is likely going to be the day we are in Calgary, but it so far appears to be only a mix of snow and rain going on for a 24 hour period....so close to the mountains....how quickly that can change....hmmmm.....doesn't matter, we are going!  It just "feels" right!!

Thank you praying friends for your support during this pandemic visit with our son.  Travel has become something in need of more prayer than used to seem necessary just to have a visit with family.  Apparently Covid-19 tests are no longer necessary for domestic flights if proof of vaccination can be presented.  This has saved a good deal of money and stress for our son. He won't need another test until he returns to the USA.  

I hope all is well with you all!  I feel so blessed this week with all that is going on in our lives but I know that is not the case for many of you. Thank you for rejoicing with me and letting me weep with those of you who have contacted me for prayer and a listening ear.

Overcome By Joy!

 We are grateful to God for the safe arrival of our son...and his luggage....yesterday afternoon. We both kept busy all day but the wait was agonizing. I think some disastrous travel issues our son has had in the past made us too paranoid about this visit, but everything worked out just fine, thankfully. The cute part was that as he entered the airport waiting area looking for us, I met him and he did not recognize me. As I was walking up to him he glanced at me a few times as his eyes roamed the room looking for his parents, but it didn’t connect, haha. So I walked up to him, said “Hi son!” and he nearly jumped out of his skin! I startled  him so badly. “Mom? MOM!!! You have different glasses and hair. I didn’t even recognize you under the mask!!” Then we laughed and laughed as we went to find his dad who was so engrossed watching football on the huge screen tv in another area that he hadn’t realized his son had even arrived! Men and football...too funny. It was his turn to be startled when his son stepped between him and the tv screen! What a happy reunion we had, followed by ordering more Indian food than three people can eat in a week! Oh well, it was a long overdue celebration! 

Today will be jet lag recovery day, then on Monday our son will figure out how long he will be with us and how he can best work out the details of the rest of his travels in Canada. He has a lot of business to take care of in Vancouver so may not be here a super long time, but we will enjoy as much time together as we can.  Thank you Lord! Thank you praying friends!

Today SHOULD Be The Day!

 Our son texted us yesterday afternoon to say he had landed in Toronto and was waiting for his baggage. He has never had to wait for baggage 🧳 in his life, as he has only ever travelled with a large carry on bag. Now I am praying his luggage does not get lost along the way since he has two or three more flights to face before he gets home again. Now we wait to see if his scheduled flight  ✈️  here is on time this afternoon. I am a basket case of nerves this morning.  It is going to be so weird to finally see him. There will be so much to talk about. There will be so many meals to make. There will be so few places we can go because we will be quarantining  at home for the first few days and some of his favourite local art venues are currently closed or reduced in public viewing times due to the pandemic. How many days can he stay? Are we driving him to Calgary at the end of the week to see his grandma or is he flying there? How many Covid tests is he going to have to pay for as he travels around the country? 

Travelling anywhere has lost its joy for my husband and I. Flying even within our own country has become an expensive nightmare. In order to have negative Covid tests certified for flying within the allowable three day time period we are forced to pay private companies at the airports anywhere from $90-$250 per person as our free provincial health test results cannot be guaranteed to be ready to present within that three day window. Lost baggage has become more the rule than the exception it seems, particularly for cross border and international travel. The older we get the less energetic we feel for dealing with these things. I suppose part of our travel ennui is the result of not having done any air travel for the past three and a half years.....pre pandemic and stressful enough with last minute flight cancellations and delayed flights being the usual state of affairs even back then.

In other news: Ray had his lung scan this week. His lung cancer is growing. Soon he will have a brain scan to see if there is any evidence of tumours there as well. Although it is unlikely, the rapidity with which Ruth lost her cognitive function with her brain tumours coupled with the fact that Ray now lives alone means he needs to be checked further. Ray’s cancer is different than Ruth’s and has not been the result of tissue travelling from another part of the body like hers was. He has told the doctor he does not want chemotherapy treatments for his lungs but the doctor is urging him to take antidepressants and then when the brain scan results are in to reconsider treatments at that time. Ooooh boy.....,I cannot imagine what he is going through right now! Oh dear Lord deliver him from fear!!

I am grateful for this morning’s sunshine and calm breeze!

Overwhelming Sorrow For Various Friends

 I am feeling wretched today, emotionally and spiritually.  In the past 24 hours one friend has been disowned by her adult son who is taking a "reality break" apparently and another friend has lost his entire business due to no fault of his own, has been completely, unexpectedly, shockingly bankrupted!  I feel like too many friends are trying to survive various parts of the trials of Job these days.  I am not even sure how to pray for some of them, their circumstances have erupted without warning and it is all incredibly weird and difficult to understand.  I need to go now and get on my knees before God and ask for his assistance on their behalf....just had to download my sorrows first.  It is hard to speak to them in person through all the tears, but I can spend lots of time crying with God and he helps us all to cope.  Wow....what a time this has been......

I can pray while I am cleaning house today as well....cleaning is such theraputic exercise when I am troubled.  I praise God for the time free today to do that very thing uninterrupted by other commitments.

Counting Down The Days!

 Our son should be arriving two days from now! It is hard to believe we may finally get to see him after nearly two years!!!! TWO YEARS thanks to the pandemic. Since he is our only child it has been like a bad dream wondering when we could visit in person again, so now we are praying nothing goes wrong with his travel plans, or we will all feel devastated. 

A possible problem arose yesterday when he stepped off a curb in slippery soled dress shoes on his way to an art exhibition and badly twisted his ankle. He spent the day in the hotel with his ankle up on a pillow and wrapped in an ice pack. Ice, elevation and prayer all combined to see a marked improvement today. He is grateful to God the ankle did not fracture!!! Me too!!!!!!!!

This trip to Paris, despite being mostly a working trip, has been a marvellous mental break for him, an oasis in the pandemic desert. We are grateful for his opportunity. His girlfriend is also thrilled for him after her own recent travel experiences that got her out of New York long enough to shake off the mental cobwebs of the past two years of lockdowns and quarantines. 

Yesterday I had a wonderful walk and talk with my walking partner. It was chilly, but there wasn’t any noticeable wind, so the stroll around the lake was delightful even if I was walking more slowly than ever. Research regarding Covid testing for her own upcoming travels was shared with me and now we have a better idea how to get testing for our son before he leaves us for the next stage of his travels. Bless her! It is a costly business, but worth it for him to be able to get his Canadian business accomplished on the west coast.

The laundry got done yesterday afternoon, so I will iron this morning, then start cleaning the suite and locate the small humidifier for use in our son’s room. It has been a lifesaver for his coastal sinuses as he is usually here in the dry winter season. He has lived on either the east or west coasts for the past 20 years, so the prairie dryness really bothers him. Thank you friend who gave us that humidifier a few years ago....an incredible help to my husband as well in the winters. 

Well, here’s hoping this visit is actually going to happen....amen!

Addie’s Update!

 He has survived two very busy days at work with no apparent decline in his condition, so continues to improve slowly. I am relieved, but it is still taking a very long time for him to get well.

Walkin' Into The Sunset

 The past few days have consisted of walk after walk after walk and tomorrow morning I get to go out walking again with my walking partner who I have not seen in some weeks, so I am excited about the morning's exercise and VISITING!!  hahaha

Yesterday my husband took our car into the dealership for a tire changeover in preparation for the coming snow.  He received an "early bird special" price for his trouble and saved us fifty dollars!  NICE!  He walked the long walk home from the dealership and when the car was ready in the afternoon I walked back with him.  The walk was just under an hour and made me very grateful for all the walks around the lake I have been able to do in the past couple of months.  I am noticing that the arthritis in my hip and ankle are somewhat worse of late, so I have trouble walking in a completely straight line and tend to shift from one side of the path to the other as I wander about, but the pain is not that noticeable.  YAY!

Today I had two half hour walks and at a much more hurried pace as I had time deadlines to meet for both of them.  The wobble in my walk was much more noticeable at the faster pace, but there again, no real pain, only some consistent muscle and joint aches. Those I am used to. Part of the problem is that the weather is now too cold for wearing the sandals I enjoyed wearing to walk in during the summer and I am adjusting to wearing full on shoes once again....oooh, winter clothes make me feel so trapped!!  Wearing jackets and occasionally light mittens for morning walks, plus high necked shirts and longer sleeves and the dreaded SHOES, makes me long already for next spring, even though winter hasn't officially begun yet.

I started the laundry today in preparation for trying to be ready for our son's visit that is supposed to begin this weekend....Lord, Lord, please let it be.  We had an encouraging email from him today. He is enjoying both his work in Paris and the leisure time he has for the next couple of days before flying to Toronto.  As long as he has a negative COVID test in Toronto, all will be well for him to continue with his Canadian travel plans. I am trying not to get excited about seeing him, but it isn't working very well. Today he sent a photo from the incredibly gorgeous Saint Chappelle.  The stained glass is incredible.  Due to the pandemic there are very few tourists in Paris, so for the first time he didn't have to line up to get into any of the churches or art museums he so loves there:

Saint Chappelle Paris 2021

This trip has been a breath of fresh air for him after two years of being trapped in NYC with nowhere to go safely all this time.  Thank you Lord!

Mom had wonderful news today. Her new hearing aids have not performed well in the past month. In fact one of them seemed to be completely dead. She has had an awful time, unable to hear the dinner conversation around her assigned table in the dining room, unable to hear the doctor's instructions, unable to hear friends and relatives talking to her on the phone.  She has been terribly discouraged and upset. HOWEVER, today the representative of the company from which she bought the aids came to her suite to check things out.  She told him all her woes and he had a close look at both aids.  Short version, he cleaned them both thoroughly of waxy buildup and then he cleaned MOM'S ears for her.  What a fantastic man!!  Now the aids work ever so much better and Mom says it is like a whole new world.  He is going to return to see her once a month and clean the aids and her ears so that she doesn't have any more issues with the new aids.  I am SO HAPPY for her.  She has been so upset and all the money she spent, only to not be able to hear much at all.  God bless The Man From BellTone!!

I had a very nice visit with a church friend this afternoon. For someone who is home bound she has so many interesting stories to tell about her life and even about the things she does around home each day. She is a very interesting person and it was a treat to spend time together.

My husband got a phone call tonight that rocked our world just a little bit.  It was a pastor friend from a non-Anglican denomination asking for some temporary pastoral assistance at his church in the new year.  They are meeting together later this week to discuss the possibilities.  My husband has a good grip on his health situation so I am not worried about him agreeing to something he can't handle, plus the temporary and fluid nature of the work is appealing to us both.  The fact that it would start in the new year,  some weeks after my husband's present position ends is also quite an incredible "coincidence".  So, he and I are praying about this possibility that would make full time retirement less difficult for him to bear and it would not interfere with the courses he has already agreed to teach in the spring for the diocesan theological school.  After tonight's call my husband was pretty perky!!  hahahaha  Haven't seen him this jazzed in awhile.  I hope this can work out for him.  Thanks for praying.

I got up early this morning for my 7am shopping run and got a bit of a shock at the first grocery store I went to.  Their shelves were severely depleted of stock....and this on a Tuesday morning!  Monday morning right after the weekend I would expect this, but it kind of blew me away today.  I got what I could there, but had to go to two other grocery stores to complete my list.  Even at that I was home before 8:30am, getting everything sanitized and put away.  I had time to do a couple of loads of laundry as a result, leaving me all afternoon tomorrow to complete that task. Then there will be two days of serious cleaning in this suite to prepare for our son's arrival. O please, may he actually arrive!!

The weather has been wonderful the past few days, just marvellous. While the daytime highs have not been that fabulous, the bright sun still contains a good deal of warmth that combats the chilly late afternoon winds.  It appears that we have another week of it before the rain and snow begin.  Thank you Lord!!!

I am awaiting another update on Addie's condition.  His release from hospital on the weekend when some of his numbers were still so high bothered me considerably and the fact that he was planning to return to work on Monday kind of scared me.  So, I wait to hear from Kat to see how he is.  Once I know I will let you, my prayer warriors, know what is going on.

It's Official Now

 My husband gave his resignation to his parish and announced his full retirement from the Anglican Church of Canada this morning at the church service.  The reactions of his parishioners were encouraging: they are sad indeed that he is leaving them after two and a little bit years, but very vocal about all they feel has has done for them, particularly during a time when the pandemic could have finished them off competely as a group meeting for worship.  He is feeling good, feeling that he actually has accomplished something for the corporate church body and in the lives of some of the individuals who attend.  During the time of pandemic closure it turns out that he lost no parishioners. Every one of them has returned to church since this past summer's reopening and two new people have begun regular attendance as well.  I am happy for him that the news is finally official and "out there".  He will retain his permission to officiate so that he can continue to fulfill any future requests to do funerals and weddings, as well as continue to teach at Anglican seminars and the local diocesan theological school.  He already has two invitations to teach in the new year. YAY!!  Teaching has truly become his first love, so there is much to look forward to in the future.

I was at my church this morning and received a bit of a shock as well: our "new" assistant minister of just over two years also gave his resignation to the congregation this morning.  He will be sorely missed....such a personable fellow with incredible pastoral gifts and a thriving small group online ministry.  He and his wife have both been offered ministries back in their home city in the Maritimes, so she will be able to put her recent theological degrees to better use there.  Their kids are pretty excited as well to be moving "home".  I feel for our senior pastor as he loses his assistant and for our deaconate as they scramble to replace the assistant minister's position at the same time they are trying desperately to find a new full time music minister.  Don't know what God is doing exactly at my church, but some dramatic changes seem to be in the offing. Lots to pray about anyway.

It is a beautiful, sunny, warm day outside, but after a rather past paced walk to church this morning, I am not sure I am up for much more walking this afternoon, so will go now and try to find a good way to enjoy the outdoors with a little less exertion! hahaha

Now THAT'S A Synod!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

 We spent most of our morning and part of the afternoon online, watching our episcopal synod. As a voting clergy delegate my husband's attendance was mandatory and my own was volunary because I care what happens to this diocese, even though I am not currently involved in the Anglican church here.  My husband and I are delighted with our new bishop elect!  She is a wonderful person, has experience in another prairie province, is very dedicated and prepared to talk to the clergy here about what they really need and want to happen in this diocese. My husband has met her at previous synods and in fact was asked several years ago by our former bishop to try to recruit her as a priest in this diocese.  He did so without success at that time, but now she IS here at last: as our new bishop elect!  (If there are no reasonable objections to her election in the next 30 days her election will be confirmed.)

A technology company was hired to make sure the Synod could be shown to one and all online and they did a fairly decent job of it.  The only thing that went wrong, as is often the case when words being spoken are being transferred onscreen via voice activation, and perhaps particularly in this age of mandatory mask wearing, there were some rather jarring mistakes crossing our eyes along the bottom of our computer screens!  hahaha Toward the end Trump's name appeared in place of a different word and there were so many odd glitches, I couldn't track them all. Here are some of the ones I did pick up and that struck me as particularly hilarous:

 

1.  As often happens the words "let us" were replaced by the word "lettuce". Lettuce pray!! Lettuce give thanks! ( I don't suppose a head of lettuce is capable of doing either action.)

 

2. The word "Synod" appeared as both "senate" and "sasquatch".  (No, Big Foot was not elected as bishop!)

 

3. "Letting their names stand": or "stamp" or "tamp" as the case may be. (Are they construction workers?)

 

4.  "The delegates are not back in yet." became "The delegates are not backing in yet." (NO?  Hopefully they have their back up lights and beepers working!)

 

5. The word "defer" became "deaf ears" and in the context of the sentence used, it appeared that the Holy Spirit had lost his hearing.

 

6. Instead of being told "let us pray" we were told very firmly that "that is great!". 

 

7. Diocese of Propel (Funny, I was CERTAIN we were having our election in the Diocese of Qu'Appelle!

 

8. "Lead us Lord." became "Leave us Lord."  (oh my....I thought he already had as I watched the script rolling past me throughout the day)

 

9. The Lord's Prayer was completely unintelligible.  There were strings of words on the screen that had nothing to do with the prayer....or anything else!

 

10. "The peace of the Lord be always with you." became "The piece of the Lord be always with you."  (Hmmmm....which piece does YOU wanna have???)

 

11. Instead of joining our voices with the angels and archangels, we were told very sternly to "...join our voices with Amy and the Angels!" (apparently our diocese is forming a new rock worship band) 

 

12. And here is the kicker....this mistake would be completely embarrassing, if it wasn't just so darned, hilariously, uproariously funny: the word "chalice" was replaced with the word "phallus". (I will let your imagination fill in the lines of the Eucharist liturgy where the word chalice appears!  AIIII YIIIIII.......blush....)  

This last horrendous error brought to mind the old Danny Kaye movie, The Court Jester:

(with apologies to the original script writers)

"The vessel with the pestle has the pellet with the poison. The chalice with the phallus, (palace) has the brew that is true." 

That is one good thing about being tired today: I was too busy laughing at the dreadful error to be embarrassed like I should have been. hahahaha 

 

I know, I know, I need more sleep......

Our Adventures: Providential Or Old Age Induced??

As you read in the previous post, we were wanting some adventures in providence yesterday and so we got them! hahaha  Not quite the sort we were thinking of, but advenures none the less! hahaha

We had a decent night's sleep, fortunately, as most of the people on the same floor of our hotel the previous crazy, noisy night left for home in the afternoon after their conference.YAY!!  We were up and packed, dressed and ready to roll at 8am, a full half hour earlier than planned, so we were feeling rather confident as we drove away from the hotel to head north to our previous town of residence: Olds!

Our morning route may not mean much to those of you who do not know Calgary, but here is what happened after we left the hotel and if you are not familiar with the named streets and areas, at least you can see the humour in our so-called adventures! hohoho

We decided to risk the morning rush hour traffic on Glenmore Trail east as the exit is close to our hotel and it would put us out on Deerfoot Trail that becomes the QE2 highway, northbound, without having to drive alternate routes through the city at snail's pace due to street repairs taking place along every one of those routes.  

We had barely started down Glenmore Trail East when my husband growled out "DOH!!!  I forgot to put that cupboard door back in front of the refrigerator!! NOOOO!!  We are going to be charged the $100 maintenance fee because they will think we broke the door! Arrrrrgh!!!" (said refrigerator is completely enclosed inside a cabinet, and in order to keep it from freezing our food inside itself due to having to work SO hard to stay cold with so little air flow around it, my husband just springs the latch on the front cupboard door and removes it completely so that air can circulate freely around the refrigeration unit.)  It took forever to work our vehicle over three lanes of traffic to the exit ramps and find a way off Glenmore Trail, partly because the traffic was SO congested we were barely moving and we couldn't fight through the traffic in the lanes beside us until we had reached the the 14th street exit a fair distance down the Trail.  Then we had another rather long drive south past the Rocky View hospital and beyond until we could turn onto a side street to get turned around, drive back across the 14th street ramp going the opposite direction and locate the exit ramp back onto Glenmore Trail West.  It took us nearly a half hour to return to the hotel through the rushour traffic.  My husband pulled up in front of the door and ran inside to tell the desk clerk that he had "forgotten something in the room!!".  She kindly gave him a key, he torqued up four flights of stairs, rather than wait for the elevator, got into the room and put the door back on the hinges, ran back downstairs, turned the key back in and raced back out to the car, panting from the exertion!  

So, Glenmore Trail east....still little traffic movement, so which route out instead?  He decided we would take the slightly less congested Glenmore Trail west to Sarcee Trail and swing north from Sarcee Trail to Stoney Trail ring road to avoid the rush hour traffic debacle on Deerfoot Trail before it leaves the city and becomes the main highway to Edmonton.  He thought there would probably be rush hour traffic on Sarcee Trail as well and also he knows that Stoney Trail north takes us on a bit of an arc farther to the west than we needed to go. However it was a better bet than Glenmore to Deerfoot, so he drove out of the hotel in the opposite direction than the first time with the intent to take the short jaunt on Glenmore Trail West to Sarcee Trail north. However, shortly after entering Glenmore West, all newly reconstructed and amazing, we both saw a sign for Stoney Trail west. Aha!!! Since Stoney Trail is being built as a ring road, it would make sense to take the westbound exit and see where it becomes Stoney Trail northbound...right??  

WRONG!!!!  BIG FAT STUPID WRONG!!!!!  At this time, there is as yet NO connection from Stoney Trail west to Stoney Trail north!!!  NONE! NADA!!!  ZIP DOODLEY!!!!  Stoney Trail west does indeed take a person west....FAR WEST, about 30km west to the turn off to Bragg Creek just south of the tee intersection at the end of Stoney Trail west, formerly known as highway 8, and Cochrane....a LONG way to the north of the tee intesection.  Sigh.....there was nowhere to get off Stoney Trail west/highway 8 that would connect us in any way to a full blown highway taking us anywhere north we needed to actually go.  

So, we phoned our friends in Olds and told them we were going to be extremely late and they had quite a laugh at what had happened to us.  We ended up driving many many miles north to Cochrane on a busy two lane highway, getting caught up in all the morning traffic and long red lights in that ever growing bedroom community of Calgary, then wended our way north for another half hour on two laned highway 22, that tees at the east/west intersection with highway 27. From there we headed back east toward Olds....another half hour jaunt.  All in all our 45 minute trip from Calgary to Olds turned into 2 hours and ten minutes!!  hahahahahahaha  However, we enjoyed the country scenery of the foothills meeting the mountains just to our west, and remembering all the drives we used to take on this highway when we last lived in the Olds area over 20 years ago.  Lots of interesting changes in the entire area, so that was fun to see. It was like sneaking away on a secret holiday, rather than an embarrassing detour because of getting ourselves lost! hahahaha

We stopped at our friends' house in Olds long enough to pick up the sewing machine she gifted my husband with and she gave him an hour long lesson in how to use it, which he really appreciated.  Then we stopped for what was supposed to be a fast hello and goodbye at the house of a friend we were unable to see when we were in Olds last month. He surprised us by having a fabulous lunch all prepared to share together, so we got a bit longer of a visit in with him than we had thought we would.  It was nice and the turkey caesar salad, made with his Thanksgiving leftovers, was wonderful! We were nearly out of town on our way to the highway to head east once again, when my mother called me to tell me her bank had completely messed up a transaction I had assisted her with just the day before, so back into Olds we drove so that I could go to the CIBC there.  Between Mom and I we seem to have gotten it straightened out, so, nearly two hours later than originally planned, we finally got out of Olds to head for home.

We didn't make it home after all.  By the time we drove over four hours to Kindersley, through all manner of road construction projects, although there was very little traffic to contend with, we were exhausted.  We stopped for Indian food at dinner time and discussed what we should do.  The mediocre food didn't do a lot to inspire us to keep driving into the coming darkness and facing whatever snow might be left as we got closer to Regina after their day of true winter weather.  So, we stopped for the night in Kindersley at the very clean and quiet Super 8 hotel. It is more of a discount motel, yet it had even more room amenities than we had at the more expensive Grey Eagle in Calgary.  It suited us very well for our brief visit.  It was nice to be able to stop driving through the gale force, freezing cold winds that had plagued us for much of the trip since leaving Calgary earlier in the morning.

I fell asleep that night before 9pm....BIG BAD MISTAKE!!  I woke up after my five and a half hours of sleep, at about 2:30am and that was the end of any sleep until my husband awoke just before 8am. By then I was dressed and had eaten my breakfast, was all packed up and ready to leave.  O wow, I have not been that tired in a very long time!!  I spent most of the night sitting on the edge of the bathtub under the bright lights in the bathroom reading a book and getting quite a chill from the fan in there.  Fortunately my husband was prepared to drive for the first couple of hours on the way home before I took a turn.  About an hour away from home I pulled over and turned the driving back to him.  My stomach was starting to hum the same tune as the road noise in the car as we drove along the highway.  By the time I pulled over my exhausted self was vibrating all over and I couldn't drive any more.  I love my understanding husband who was more than happy to let me rest in the passenger seat until we returned to the city at about 12:30pm.  

the rest of the day took on a  distinctly nightmare quality!!  it reminded me of an Indiana Jones movie: just when you think it is finally over, there  is one more segment to sit through! 

We arrived at the outskirts of Regina just about the time I was desperately in need of lunch, so we stopped at The Tap for their all day breakfast.  Eat and run, is what I figured, but I was wrong.  They were jammed with people despite their close attention to distancing....it is a large space....and they are short staffed.  So, after our order was taken we waited and waited and waited and waited for nearly forty minutes before our all day breakfast lunch appeared. By then I was nearly comatose, but the lunch did restore me considerably to good humour and calmed my stomach down.  YAY!!

Time to go home now, right?    Wrong!!  We needed to stop at a grocery store for a few small items first.  I stayed in the car and kept my eyes shut while my husband did his best to battle the Friday afternoon grocery store crowds and get through the cash register line up.  

Time to go now now, right?  WRONG!!  The car needed some attention right away so it was off to a gasoline station next to take care of the issues.

Time to go home NOW, right?  Yup! Finally!!  I dragged myself inside our suite and forced myself to just sit still for a few minutes before helping my husband unload our many, many items from the car and bring them in for unpacking.  Then I called Mom to let her know we were home safely and allowed myself the luxury of a quick doze before collecting all the bills and receipts from our trip and getting ready to pay them.

For dinner I had 8 low salt, low fat Triskets with a dab of humus and cheese on each one, plus half an apple...the leftovers from what our friends in Olds had provided us with for our earlier afternoon snack along the route. God bless them!! What a thoughtful thing to send with us AND it did us for the equivalent of two meals, with some crackers and cheese left over from their wonderful food packet.  

At 10pm I crawled into bed for the night....I THINK I spent some time watching tv after dinner, but I really don't remember at this point. Yawn.....maybe I was dozing in front of the tv?

Anyway, it was a good trip overall. Good to see Mom. Good to see how she is really doing and get some ideas going in my mind about what to do if her vision fails much more than it is currently.  She is having more and more trouble seeing properly so.....sigh.....it is VERY difficult to see her starting to fail and knowing that she is beginning to experience more problems getting around, dealing with her doctor's appointments on her own, etc.  I don't know how much longer she can care for herself to be honest....I don't know what is going to happen, but I pray I will be prepared to do whatever I need to do to continue to assist her as the months go by.  There is literally no one in Calgary left to go with her to doctor's appointments or to take her out for shopping etc.  Well, I can only deal with it one day at a time, and that is something I have experience with in my own life, so things will work out when they need to, I am sure.

I had a really good sleep in my own bed last night and wow, what a great feeling it was to wake up somewhat rested this morning.  

  

 

To Drive Or Not To Drive: That Is The Question!

 We are playing our drive home “by ear” today. 

We will drive to Olds this morning for a short visit with friends who are gifting my husband with a sewing machine!!!! What an amazing event. One of the things my husband wants to do in the new year is hone his sewing skills, so the timing of this gift is perfect! What a kind friend.....the same friend who gifted me with a new iron recently. How do we adequately thank people who do such things for us???? 

Then we are on the road home, not knowing how far we will go today. Driving from Calgary to Olds to Regina is likely too long a trip for one day and we would be driving the last two hours in the dark on roads that could be covered in melting snow and rain that could be freezing by dinner time. On the other hand there could be only a few cm’s of snow and the predicted afternoon showers could have washed it all away and the traffic could have dried the roads completely by the time we reach the area of SK where snow and  rain are forecast for today. We didn’t book a hotel anywhere along the route, which could turn out to be interesting tonight...... We are going to have a bit of an Adventure In Providence today! 

I took Mom to the doctor yesterday to check out a lump the size of an orange that arose recently on her upper arm. Turns out she ruptured a tendon awhile ago when she lifted something that was too heavy for her. It will heal after a fashion over the next several weeks, but she has to be careful with it. The swelling should go down eventually but there will always be a lump there. Poor Mom....she doesn’t need any more issues to deal with! Of course it is her right arm and shoulder that are effected and she is right handed, plus has an arthritis issue with her left arm and hand.....aaaargh! Her hearing and vision continue to deteriorate so that is concerning. I can only pray for God’s mercy for her.

Addie continues to slowly improve. Yesterday his ck was down from 29,000 to 14,500. His liver is still in a bad way, but there is hope there too. It is just taking a long time for him to heal and he is being closely monitored. He is enjoying his room in the children’s ward...no other rooms available in the adult wing...because it is painted in bright, cheerful colours with Rider Green trim! haha Thank you for praying for him and Kat.

I Wanna Go Home, (x2)! Lord How I Waaaaanna Go Home!

 The title of this post is taken from the lyrics of an old popular song from the 1940’s, (?), 1950’s, (?)... it was one of many old songs from my parents’ generation that they and their friends would stand around our piano to sing after a big dinner my mom prepared, Dad at the piano keys, everyone relaxed and having fun after a couple of glasses of wine. I don’t remember anything else about the song, only this last lyric, but it sums up how I am feeling tonight.

Things are going incredibly well here, Mom is doing fine right now and it is good to have the time away, but winter is definitely on the way and I feel like I want to get home, get the studded winter tires on the car and prepare to hibernate indoors for the next few months. Last winter at the height of the pandemic onset was the best winter EVER! We couldn’t go anywhere, we could relax every single day because no one was coming over, even some medical appointments were able to be dealt with over the phone instead of at the clinic. My husband prepared and presented his sermons and prayer services online, from home. Despite the frightening events necessitating the lockdowns and the subsequent challenges, we found the entire winter to be pretty fine to be honest. This winter may not be the same, but we will still be home a lot, enjoying time together. Who’da thunk I would be nostalgic for at least parts of a winter that was one of the worst our world has experienced overall in a hundred years????

The Smallest Of Encouragements Bring Hope.....

 This morning Addie’s creatinine kinase has dropped from 39,000 to 29,000 after a full day on a new and intense IV medication. On one hand his count is still about 28, 830 units too high, BUT the number is finally heading in the right direction! Thank you God 💒 and prayer warriors  👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 and doctors👨‍🔬and hospitals! 🏥

Life for us is going well once again today. We woke up to a thick layer of early morning frost covering our car, but by the time we left the hotel to pick Mom up the sun had melted most of it. What a chilly day we have had, but the sun has been shining all day and there have been no snow flurries today. We took Mom to run a few errands, then granted her request to go to Humpty’s for a one size smaller Cowboy Breakfast. My husband, who has a negative attitude toward chains like Humpty’s bordering on scathing, had the pleasant surprise of enjoying his meal immensely!!! Hahahaha.....of course the 20% Senior Discount we all received helped as well, hahaha....

We dropped Mom back at home with her parcels after lunch so she could rest this afternoon and headed out to do some of our own shopping. My husband, in faith that our son will actually make it to our place this month, purchased several bags of the loose teas that our son most enjoys. He ordered online this morning from his favourite tea shop, Tea Traders, and after stopping in at their store this afternoon to pick up his order he drove us to Reddhart for a new pair of original loose fit 12 oz. cotton duck Carhartt winter 👖 pants and a pair of winter wool socks. He received a 20% discount on the pants, another delight for him, hahahaha! I wanted to go to Ikea to buy a new cover for the bentwood chair we purchased from them in 2002. The one we have had on that chair has faded considerably, although, being made of a similar cotton duck fabric as my husband’s new pants, there are zero worn or torn spots! Unfortunately that particular style of chair is no longer being produced, so no point in going to Ikea. There is nothing else I need there.

A light supper will suit us tonight. Probably we will return to SpotOn and try something NOT Karuso’s pizza from their menu. I am hoping they have some fabulous salads. A salad would sit well I think!

Day One In The City Done!

 It has been a good day! I am grateful for the smoothness of the way every detail worked out. We both slept fantastically well last night.... many, many uninterrupted hours of deep dozing. Hallelujah! Since talking to his leadership team yesterday about his future plans my husband’s mood has been bordering on the euphoric! It is delightful to see him this happy again. 

The boring drive between The Hat and Calgary seemed to pass quickly this time. Yay! Before we knew it we were at our favourite pizza place, SpotOn, for lunch. An early check in at the hotel went very well and there are very few other guests on our floor tonight, so it will be quiet! We were able to get a room this time without an adjoining door to the next suite, yay again....this time for better soundproofing between rooms for us than last time we stayed here. The Grey Eagle feels like our second home now! Dinner at the Little Chief was delicious and filling as always. 

Mom is doing well, but she looks more tired than I have seen her in recent visits. All the more reason I am praying that if our son makes it to our place later this month the weather will permit us all to go to Calgary to surprise her with a short visit. He missed out on a satisfying final visit with both his grandfathers for various reasons, and was only present for the last visit and death of his paternal grandmother. He has not seen my mom in nearly two years because of the previous pandemic lockdowns, so...here’s hoping...

In between sunny periods this afternoon in Calgary we had brief snow flurries...for us, the first snow of the season, although it melted as quickly as it landed on the ground and it is all gone now.

I am going to relax and read a novel tonight! A novel idea! (Groan!!!! Penelope that one is for you! haha)

Addie Is No Better Today...Please Keep Praying! Thanks!!

 He is being given specialized IV fluids but his bloodwork is no better. Now blood clots are a huge concern.  This family seems to be under constant attack with medical issues. Thanks to you from all of them for your prayers.

Travellin’ On Down The Road!

 Here we are in our favourite wee discount hotel room in Medicine Hat.  It has been a good day! 

This morning we were able to find a road out of town on our way to my husband’s church that missed 3/4 of the road construction we had to contend with last time we went out there....bonus!!! The service went well, my husband preached a brilliant sermon (not that I am biased of course, teehee) about the basis or lack thereof for atheistic morality. For example, if there is no Creator, no ordered universe, there is no basis to arbitrarily choose what is right or wrong, because there is no right or wrong, they are non-existent propositions. A universe created “accidentally” out of “atoms in chaos” creates no basis for morality. The existence of evil then, as defined by humans, instead of giving evidence for no order, no creator or God, does exactly the opposite. If the majority of humanity tends to define good and evil and differentiate between them, where does that urge come from if there is no ordered universe with a purpose for its existence? Lots to think about. My husband was also able to share his plans for next year with his leaders and they were very understanding of his decisions. He will make the public announcement next Sunday.

The restaurant where we planned to have lunch today, near the church, is closed for lack of a cook. Business is way down because of the pandemic, hours for staff are reduced, therefore many restaurant workers are unable to earn sufficient income to pay their bills and are forced either onto EI or into other lines of work. So sad..... We ended up in Moose Jaw at Street’s Steak House and had a most yummy meal! My husband’s steak on his steak sandwich was more like a corner of a thick roast! Delicious! My chicken fingers were four pieces of filet that were flattened, HUGE things, more like “palms” than “fingers”! There was so much meat my husband had to help me finish them. The small Caesar salad was fresh, no brown lettuce!!

The drive to Medicine Hat was uneventful, on this sunny, cool day, but we drove into a strong headwind the entire trip! It sucked the gasoline out of our car at an alarming rate. We estimate we got about 150km less from our full tank of gasoline than usual. Those sorts of horrendous prairie winds are not unusual, but it is difficult to hold the car in the centre of the driving lane. Semi truck trailers jittered across the lane divider lines making passing the slower moving trucks more dangerous than usual. We did arrive here safely and we are grateful for that. We ate a small Indian dinner at the restaurant in the Baymont Hotel that was tasty at least if not gourmet. 

Mom is very excited to see us tomorrow. I hope we will sleep well tonight so we can enjoy every minute of the day tomorrow.

Prayer Request: Kat’s son Addie developed a serious medical condition that occasionally attacks the body after intense workouts at the gym. It has a long, unpronounceable name, but essentially it affects the kidneys and liver and can lead to renal failure if not diagnosed and treated right away, which Addie’s was, BUT he is not responding to the treatments. After a workout it is not abnormal for a person’s renal creatinine to rise to 1000 units. Addie’s creatinine count is currently 39,000 units!! Yes, 39 THOUSAND!!! He is serious danger and needs your prayers. Thank you for remembering him to God. Pray for his brother too, and Kat. Addie is only 29 years old. A second doctor has been called in. Oh Lord   hear our prayer to keep Addie safe. Please give Kat a break for once from the unending trials Thank you, amen!

SMOKE! Choke Croak

 Wow, there has been more forest fire smoke drifting through our city in the past three days than there has been in the past four months! Until recently we have not suffered much here from these larger particulates that make the air acrid and leave clouds of smoke hanging visibly in the air. This week is the first time my asthma has bothered me in a very long time, and I am grateful my whole summer and fall were not affected by asthma. The smoke will follow us into Alberta unfortunately, but I am armed with meds, so should be ok.

I am praying for the northern Saskatchewan indigenous communities and others being evacuated around Hudson Bay and Shoal Lake where the massive fires are burning out of control. At last report nearly a thousand people have been evacuated from the area. I cannot imagine what they are going through, not knowing if any of their homes and personal belongings will still be there when it is safe to return. This year has been a terrible year for forest fires that have destroyed whole towns and uprooted thousands of people. 

Holding Off As Long As Possible!

 Due to the extreme rise in the cost of oil and gas at the moment, we have made the decision to leave our furnace off here in the suite for as long as possible before it simply has to go on to keep the pipes from freezing!  By this time last year we had been running it for two weeks already, but this year the wonderfully warm autumn has allowed us to stay warm enough without it running and costing a lot of money.  However, I suspect that when we return from our trip next week, the first thing we will have to do is put on the furnace while we unpack as the local temperatures appear to be taking a significant drop off by then.  

We have also not had the snow tires put on our car, possibly foolish considering the freak, unscheduled snow storms that always seem to hit Calgary the day we are trying to leave to come home, almost no matter what time of the year, haha, but we are trying to preserve the studs in the tires for another year and don't want to wear them down unnecessarily before the snow and ice arrive.

Today was a very nice day once again.  It was a tad cooler outside, but a long sleeved blouse was all that was required to stay warm enough out of doors, still no coat necessary, yay!  I got the rest of the laundry done this morning and tomorrow morning I will do the ironing.  My husband took the car to get the oil changed and the filters changed, then to the car wash where he gave it a most thorough cleaning!

This afternoon I had a lovely visit with a friend while we sipped on delicious iced coffee and watched her granddaughter take the silver medal for her age group in diving at the Junior Pan Am Games.  We had a long talk together about how the provincial government's decision to stop its financial advocacy programme for people with addictions and mental health issues is going to effect our city.  Sigh....this sort of thing happened in Alberta nearly 50 years ago when I still lived there and I remember the incredible rise in street and residential crime that occurred, due in great part to the rise in the number of homeless people stranded sleeping and living out of doors year round because the help they needed was no longer available to them.  Soon our population who depend on not only government financial assistance because they are not employable, but on advocates to help them deal with their monthly social assistance payments so that their rent and other expenses are paid on time each month, will no longer have those advocates available. They will be completely responsible to find their own housing and pay their own bills....have the government authorities who passed this legislation lost their minds completely????  The reason they had advocates is because these people are not capable of keeping themselves housed, clothed and fed because they are not capable of handling their finances due to their addictions and mental illnesses.  As as result, many landlords here in my city have announced they will no longer take ANY tenants who are on social assistance, so the resulting jump in homeless families as well as the mentally ill is going to be a huge problem.  Our parks and downtown streets will be filled with people who have no home and no advocate to assist them in getting one.  I am not exaggerating when I say that we are in for months and months of trouble here until the powers that be start to see what disaster their actions in government legislation have wrought!  As far as how it directly effects ME, it means it will no longer be safe for me to walk to church early on Sunday mornings.  Sigh.....the parks I have to walk either through or directly past will soon be overrun with street folk looking for a warm place to sleep and live.  There are not enough other people out and about along my Sunday morning route for it to be safe for a senior citizen to be out walking it so early in the morning.  No, I am not exaggerating the dangers because I have lived them previously when I was still young enough to be far less vulnerable to people unable to decipher the difference between what they see in their minds and actual reality.  What are these poor people going to do????  How are they going to get the help they need????  Somehow we in the church are going to have to scramble to regain our ability to truly and consistently help the truly needy among us, the way we had to before we abdicated our responsiblity for the most vulnerable folk to the government.  Oooh, I am not looking forward to any of what is coming. The people who passed this legislation have no idea what they have done.....Lord preserve the addicted and mentally challenged among us who are about to lose their support systems.

I arrived home to the news that my cousin is in town, so I have arranged to see her tomorrow afternoon.  How am I going to have time to see her without having to stay up until midnight getting packed up to travel, since my plans for an uninterrupted day to get travel ready were interrupted on Wednesday, AND Thursday,  AND Friday, AND now on Saturday??? hahaha  Anyway, it will be so good to get together, even for a short visit. Since I only have a couple of relatives who even know I exist there is no way I am NOT going to have this visit!!  

So, off to take my nightly meds and then get to bed early in preparation for tomorrow's busyness....again!

 

Support LIVING Artists...dead ones don’t require it....right??

 Yesterday was fun!! 

We started our day with the running of a few errands and then my husband got the call to tell him his new glasses were ready, so now he can see to read once again. Unfortunately it seems the middle distance part of the lens has been improperly ground/centered, because he can only see through it if he throws his head forward so that his chin is resting on his chest and he can see clearly through the top quarter of the lens.  Everything else down to the reading spectrum is a complete blur! Sigh....after fighting for a half hour trying to see the computer screen he was extremely nauseous! We would march back there today to deal with it but there is no time, so it will have to wait a week until after the trip west.

Ok, so that was not the fun part of the day. 

The fun part was in the afternoon, when we first drove out into the country north west of Lumsden for a pastoral visit with a parishioner on her farm. I sat in the car reading a book while my husband did his pastoral thing. It was a lovely hour for me, with the sun shining on the pages of my book, a slight breeze coming in through the open window and a comfy car seat to tilt back for utmost comfort. After the meeting we were taken on a short walking tour to see the animals: a tiny calf and her mom, thirty of this year’s spotted brown and black pigs, myriad breeds of chickens and roosters and six snow white  geese who dogged our every  step, as they certainly enjoy human contact. It was a victory lap for me: watching veterinary shows on tv for the past two years has rid me of my long standing fear of chickens so I was able to enjoy wandering through their midst as they ran about the farm. The farm is certified organic so the livestock have a lot of freedom to roam. We saw how effectively pigs can rout up the land when our friend showed us her large garden that was complete “rototilled” by the pigs early in the spring. There are still pumpkin and tomato plants growing there that grew up because their seeds were in the feed the pigs had eaten. 

After our time at the farm we drove another fifteen minutes west to Regina Beach for our first look at the south end of Last Mountain Lake. We have lived here nearly seven years but never before taken the time to visit the lake. The lake is huge and from just west of the town the lake turns sharply to the north for about an 80km span. The village, now abandoned by summer tourists, is the usual somewhat grubby looking collection of small businesses that thrive mostly in summer, surrounded by an eclectic mix of closed up summer cabins and year round homes of varying ages, styles and conditions. We walked out along the main pier and watched some of the local residents catching large fish. We watched thousands of minnows swimming in the shallow water near shore. We inspected the mooring docks and the kids’ playground and the pebbly beach. It is a pretty place, quite hidden from view of the area highways and secondary roads. Resort towns always look a bit droopy and feel rather abandoned post tourist season, but it is our favourite time to tour such places....after the heaving throngs of summer people have left. It was a fantastic tour. 

Although I should have been at home finishing the laundry and ironing clothes, it was a lot more fun going out for a drive. My husband was able to locate the best places to put his canoe into the lake next summer and is already creating a plan for some day trips for paddling with his canoeing buddies then.

So, laundry this morning, them while my husband performs  some more pastoral duties this afternoon, I will be over at a friend’s house watching the livestream of her granddaughter diving at the Junior PanAm Games diving competition in Tucson Arizona. That will be fun! 

A good week for us both, other than issues with my husband’s new glasses. It will be a busy weekend of church services for Thanksgiving, packing, travelling.....time to get going on the aforementioned laundry!

Happy News Items And A Small Prayer Request

The prayer request:  our neighbour on the other side of the wall smokes a lot of pot.  For the summer he has been mostly smoking outside so the smell hasn't bothered me much.  However, now he is doing most of his smoking in the house and since there is a poor seal between our suites, I am reaching a point with my asthma of not being able to draw a full breath and when I go down to the basement to do the laundry, the adjoining wall there being the most poorly sealed, I cannot stop sneezing.  I really don't want to have to spend my winter on antihistamines and inhalers until I can move out of here next spring, but I may have to.  It seems very unfair that I have to pump my own body full of drugs to cope with the side effects of someone else's addiction, but that is life for people with allergies, so I won't complain.  What I need is prayer that my body will cope better with my neighbour's weed smoke this winter.  I can't move out for another nearly 8 months, until our lease expires, so I am kind of stuck here.  I cannot expect the neighbour to stop smoking his drugs just because I happen to have an allergy to them. That isn't fair to him. I would appreciate prayer that God would help me with this.  A little extra prayer for my neighbour that he could be healed and set free from his addiction would be nice too if you have time.  He is a nice fellow and we have a good relationship with him.  Thank you so much! 😁

Fabulous news item #1:  our son has booked his flight from Toronto on October 23rd!!!!  He is to arrive in the late afternoon and we pray his flight will go well and that it won't arrive too many hours later than scheduled.  We pray he will have no trouble getting his airport Covid-19 tests in France before he leaves for Toronto the previous day.  He will be able to spend his evening in Toronto with his former boss from the Vancouver Gallery where they both used to work.  That will be a bonus for him. They have travelled the world together in times past attending and participating in various art and art book fairs.  Don't know how long our son can stay, but even a few days will be a huge treat for us.  YAY! Thank you Lord!!!

FABULOUs NEWS ITEM #2: my annual eye examination went extremely well and was most encouraging!  I had every test in the place today and all the news is good. My vision is stable for the time being, there is no more damage to the retina in either eye, the drusen that signal the onset of macular degeneration have barely changed in size or quantity and are still nowhere near the centre of my retinal vision so i should be able to see alright for some time to come!  Praise the Lord!!  There is no sign of our family issue with glaucoma as yet and I am most grateful for being spared that trial yet again. A small cataract that was discovered forming a year ago has only slightly advanced, so it will be possibly quite a long time yet before it has to be removed.  There is zero damage to my eyes from the diabetes. I am just delighted by all this great news about my eyes.  I was dreading the exam today, at least somewhat, because with the hospital and clinic restrictions during this pandemic, there is no guarantee I would be able to get necessary surgeries or treatments right now. I am so grateful to God for this news that I have been crying on and off and on again ever since I got home from the appointment!!  

It is a great mercy to have so much to rejoice about today!  I was able to walk up to my appointment and back, so that was just wonderful.  Although the air temperature is nearly +29C right now, there is a cool autumn breeze blowing gently so the heat when I was walking was far from unbearable.  The exercise is greatly appreciated because I may not have too many more ice free days to be outside for extended walks.  I am filled with even more amazement about God's provision than usual today because the good news has been coming in all day.  Thank you for praying for our family.  We are conscious of the amazing level of support.