A Wonderful Day For Travelling A Short Distance!

We had an excellent drive today out of town so my husband could preach and reside at an Anglican service this morning.  The overnight icy build up on the highway had almost melted away entirely and by half way to our destination the bits of icy slush had disappeared entirely.  However....OH the sights we did see along the way:  we passed a 3 semi-truck accident on the other side of the highway that had a nearly 2km long line of stopped semi's waiting to get passed the mess.  There were crushed cabs, ripped open trailers and when we returned home over seven hours later the contents of one of the trailers was still being unloaded onto a new semi trailer.  Looked like a wicked crash and we do hope and pray the drivers were all okay afterward.  We also passed a very large dead animal in the ditch.  At first we assumed it must be a moose, but it was the wrong shape and the hair on the carcass was too coarse and black, so now we are wondering if a young bison escaped from one of the area bison ranches and got itself hit by a vehicle.  If it was a bison, we are wondering what condition the vehicle that hit it is in!!  Our gratitude for safety in our own travels there and back is huge right now!

My husband aced his church work today and his sermon about the Prodigal Son, the family tension between the father and his two sons and which of the sons, or the father, we most identify with when there is sibling ( or other interpersonal) rivalry, how we can properly become weak to demonstrate our heavenly Father's strength....it was all really helpful to me and apparently to some of the congregation members as well.  My husband can't seem to write a sermon without creating an entire weekend seminar on whatever the subject is, but the amount of work he puts into preparation is obvious even in the much shorter sermon extraction.  I am proud of him...hahaha............no kiddin'! hahaha

After the service we joined some church folk for lunch at a restaurant called Mitsu that billed itself as serving food based on a "Japanese style".  We didn't have high hopes as that could mean anything at all, we were assured by our friends that the food was excellent and it certainly was.  Delicious bento boxes with teriyaki chicken....a generous amount on a small bed of rice, seaweed salad, sushi rolls, a spring roll and a gyoza along with the appropriate types of soys, miso soup and edemame.  Yum, yum and quite reasonably priced.  We also splurged on crepe desserts.  My husband was able to get a crepe with red bean paste and mochi and I had a crepe stuffed with small chunks of brownie with both a chocolate and an orange-yuzu drizzle over the top, plus some crunchy bits as well.  I loved that iced cream was an extra added cost and that it was quite acceptable to NOT have the iced cream!  I don't like it, can't eat it anyway, and to have melting iced cream all over my crepe would have ruined the nice texture.  There was a strawberry nutella crepe as well that one of our friends wisely ordered to take home....such restraint....and I hope she enjoys her dessert as much as we two little piglets enjoyed ours!!  It has been awhile since we were able to use chopsticks to eat our meals with....good practise as it is a skill I don't want to become rusty at.  

After an overcast drive out of town this morning it was a great treat to be able to drive home in the sunshine!  The air is still chilly and the breeze a bit chillier yet, but we are looking at a wonderful warmup to plus single digit daytime highs later this week. So grateful that perhaps spring is actually about to arrive!!

Seasonal Wardrobe Limbo Land!

After two and a half marathon sessions** of ironing spring and summer clothes and packing up most of my winter clothes, I am prepared for the end of the worst of the winter weather and ready well in advance for the heat of summer! (which on a day like today, with high temperature around -5C and a ground cover of frozen ice and snow piles, seems very far away indeed) So, if you should happen upon a senior citizen aged woman outside shivering in her less than weather-adequate apparel, you will know it is moi!!

[**one marathon session equals 90 minutes.........it does so!]

The first of our next door neighbours moved out this morning.  I don't know who we will miss more, him or his hilarious elderly dog who only barks, in his big loud outside voice, at mailmen, rabbits, geese, people waiting for the bus half a block away, delivery drivers going to any door in our court, moving vans, the sun flashing off the mirrors of passing vehicles, tree branches waving in the wind, children, his owner, our visitors, their visitors, everyone's visitors, us, cats, snowflakes and raindrops.  Despite this long list of "disturbances" to his mental and visual equlibrium, his sessions of barking are pretty short in length.  I will miss my Mailman Alert each morning. With the dog gone Lord only knows when I will next remember to check our mailbox!!  In a couple of days the other tenant in that suite will also be gone, leaving us in another form of limbo:  who or what are we going to have as our next other side of the less than soundproof wall neighbours? Sigh...kinda' stressful I admit.

So life continues on this somewhat soggy, icy, occasionally snowy day.  My husband skated down the block after the movers left to retrieve our car from where I parked it overnight last night...so glad I did because when our neighbour's GIANT moving van arrived well before 8am, it needed nearly 3 parking spots to fit itself into.  The same crew will move the next person out so the night before she leaves I will have to move the car again.  It is a small thing to do to thank them for being such good neighbours...sigh, I will miss them.  They very kindly gave us the name of the rental agent who signed them up for suites in his properties, so we have somewhere concrete to begin our next search for ourselves when at least my first hip surgery is over with.

Now, if the highway out of town will just remain bare of snow and ice overnight we will have a safe and happy trip tomorrow morning. Praying like mad!!!  Here's hoping.....

PS All The Cartoons Are Copyrighted….

 …..since one of you asked me, thought I would confirm that info. 😉

The Cactus And A Little Family Art History!

I am so excited to see the gorgeous deep pink colour of the blooms on the Christmas cactus my walking partner gave me back at Christmas time.  It was such a teensy plant, wedged into a very small pot when she got it and now that it is transplanted and happy with the light conditions it has the blooms are starting up for the Easter season.  I LOVE it! Here is some photos so you can enjoy it as well:

 

Sooooo Purty!!!

Our son is giving some art lectures to first year students at a college in Philadelphia in a few weeks and will be talking about his transition from cartoonist to fine arts.  He asked us to find some of our photos of his older works to use in the lecture. What fun looking back at some of them and remembering his arts journey:

It all started when he won a colouring contest for a children's theatre production when he was about 8 years old.

 

He continued with cartoons as he entered college. This particular piece represents his interpretation of our lives in the small town where he was raised....kind of dark actually, but honest fer shur!

The Dark Side Continues.....

A final project for art college

A foray into the wonderful world of advertising

From there he began developing more of a fine art style and his career path changed slowly into the work he is doing today with tesselation patterns.  It has been a long and interesting journey for him and we are pleased he is enjoying his life and his art so much.  Hope you had fun looking at his old cartoons. 

Racing About As The Ice Is Forming Everywhere!

 Brrrrr....it is VERY cold this afternoon with an ever strengthening wind.  The freezing drizzle, slush, ice and snow have moved down from Saskatoon as far as Lumsden, only about 40 minutes from here and the edge of the storm is starting to hit our fair city.  Yuck, BUT not unexpected as the old adage about March arriving like a lamb and leaving like a lion proves true once again.  

A few minutes ago I decided it was time to get the garbage bags out to the bin before the drizzle begins in earnest and I am glad I did.  The water across large swaths of the parking lot, coming from the melting snow and ice piles on the lawn, was already frozen and I am grateful that some closely spaced little snow pellets, along with my cane, gave me a bit of extra traction over the smooth new freeze.

Less than five minutes after I got back into the house I remembered that our neighbour next door, whose moving truck is arriving already tomorrow morning fairly early, is going to need me to move our vehicle so that his truck could use our space.  After talking to my husband about what to do about moving our car in this weather, we opted to move it right away to a safe side street that my husband will be easily able to access tomorrow after the movers are gone....he can wear his ice crampons if he needs to so that he can easily navigate the icy sidewalk to get over to the car.  God bless him.

So, I decided to move the car to the street we want to use before other folk in the area start filling those spots up with their Friday night company.  The spot I wanted is easily seen from our place so we can keep an eye on the car whenever we want to, but it is off the main street where it is not as safe to leave it overnight.  In the few minutes I was home between taking out the garbage and moving the car the icy finish had begun to form outside.  The side mirrors on the car, even though there had not yet been any freezing drizzle or rain, had a thin sheet of ice covering them, as did the windshield.  I tried scraping it off the mirror with my fingernails as I sat in the drivers' seat and realized it was going to take an age to melt and scrape the windshield ice off.  I settled for brushing off the thin covering of snow pellets and, peering through the one spot the incar heater was able to clear, I slowly drove to the preferred street and parking spot. Whew!  Then I had to navigate the front sidewalk on foot, where a bit of wetness there from passing vehicles whose tires had thrown it up off the road, was a big patch of very thin, almost invisible but very solid ice.  Eek!  Fortunately there were some exposed patches of dead grass along the edge of the sidewalk on the way to my front door, so that made it possible to get back inside our place without too much fear of slipping and falling. Hallelujah!!

The drama here surrounding storms that haven't even arrived yet is quite the big deal for a senior with a cane and bad hip with a history of falling down on all manner of sidewalks in icy conditions! hohoho!

So, since we have to go out of town on  Sunday to lead a church service, my prayer is that whatever mess accrues out on the highway between now and tomorrow morning, it will be sufficiently cleared by Sunday morning that we can travel with our hearts where they belong, firmly in our chests and not in our mouths!!! Amen!

Continuing To Wait On The Weather Each Day

On Thursdays I get up at 6:45am for a 7am breakfast.  That way my blood sugar is ready for the little snack my coffee buddy and I have at 9:45am over at Creme each week.  I followed my usual pattern this week, excited that no freezing rain had fallen overnight and only the occasional swirl of flurries was happening outside.  For only the second time in the past six weeks or so, going for our weekly coffee visit was not going to be hampered by bad weather!  Wrongo!!  Just after 8am my friend called to say she was worried that the freezing rain or heavy snow could begin while we were at the coffee bar and that would make getting home miserable for us both, so could we please try again next week and cancel today's venture out.  Sigh.... As I agreed to let our visit go once again, I got thinking about the fact that she lives on the top floor of a building on the farthest west side of the city, a building that looks out over farmers' fields that extend for miles and miles and that gives her the most amazing view of the sky and the weather that is headed right for us.  Hmmmm....she likely had a point that bad weather looked as though it could hit us at any moment and I realized it would not be a very relaxed visit if we had to peer out the windows at the coffee bar every few minutes to see if it was raining or storming.  

Turned out we could have gone out quite safely, but I was happy to accommodate my friend's concerns, as well as be grateful that for once it wasn't me who was cancelling our plans! The freezing rain never did make an appearance, although it could still arrive overnight and into the early morning tomorrow....don't care as we aren't going anywhere out of this house until Sunday morning as far as I know.  My husband and I did make it to our discussion group this afternoon and the worst weather condition we encountered was a pattern of extreme gales that nearly blew me over as I edged gingerly along our melting ice "road" out across the back lawn to the parking lot. hahaha The wind speed and noisy howling has become worse as this evening has progressed so perhaps we will still experience the remains of the storm that has been wreaking a bit of travel havoc to the north and west of us.

Since my plans for the morning were scuttled, I had time to do some outstanding chores, including getting a start on ironing my spring and summer clothes and packing a few more "dead of winter" items into the storage bins. I weeded out a couple of items from the first two spring bins, seeing that this year they no longer of interest to me...they are both SO OLD. Time to retire them. They are still in decent condition so they are in a bag to take to the thrift store next time we head in that direction. They will be like new to someone else who will enjoy wearing them.

There is a beautiful looking eggplant in my veggie crisper so I think I will cook that up tomorrow. I want to use up the rest of my winter white onions and some tomato sauce I made quite some time ago that is taking up shelf space in our food storage cabinets. Perhaps I will go online and find a recipe for East Indian Began Bharta. We have quite a few Indian spices and herbs so perhaps that will be an even better idea since I love that dish so much.  I am looking forward to this next two days to do a serious amount of ironing, some vegetable cooking and relaxing at home with no committments in advance.  If any social interaction arises spontaneously that will be wonderful as well.  

We received a card in the mail today from my husband's young cousin and her husband letting us know they have moved and giving us their new address.  I did a double take when I saw the address and went online to check the location of their new condo...sure enough, they are living in the same building we lived in the first year of my husband's seminary training in Calgary.  The building has been completely renovated and looks very good in the online photos. Oh my goodness...seeing that place reminded me of so many memories as I lived from the ages of 10 to 19 only four blocks away from there.  (Interestingly, this cousin's first apartment was only four blocks away from the house where I spent the first ten years of my life!)  Getting online it was so interesting to see how the whole neighbourhood has changed, (and in some cases surprisingly not changed at all), since our initial seminary days. What a hoot. If we get to Calgary in the summer we are invited to visit cousin and her husband.  At least their place will not be difficult for us to find! hahaha 

Tomorrow I will get my husband to take a photo of the gorgeous blooms starting to appear on the Christmas cactus my walking partner gave me for Christmas. My husband also took photos today of a couple of cartoon works we have from our son, back in the days before he was a fine arts graduate.  He is doing a talk to some university art students in Philadelphia soon and is supposed to tell his story of how he went from being a cartoonist to being a successful abstract artist, so that will be a lot of fun for him and hopefully for the students. Wish I could hear that talk!  It might answer some of MY questions too about why he took the direction in life he took for his art career.

48 Years And Counting......

 It was a "red letter" day for us today.  We celebrated our 48th anniversary....weeeeellll, "celebrated" is perhaps too strong a word, but we did go out for an okay lunch at noon after my husband's morning Eucharist and in between his having to prep for a class tomorrow and a sermon etc. on Sunday.  At least we both remembered our anniversary this year, haha.  There have been occasions when we have been too busy to even think about it.

As much as we miss our dearly departed extended family members, we have to confess this past couple of years we have quite enjoyed celebrating our wedding anniversaries by ourselves.  We have always felt that anniversaries are for the married couple, not the rest of the family to fret over, (sending out cards to be received in time for The Day, choosing the best times to make phone calls, wanting to share our personal plans and join us, etc.),  although we do enjoy seeing friends if that works out....and it is working out as dear dear friends want to get together for a dinner next week!  YAY!!  

One pair of relatives we were excited to hear from today was our son and his soon to be wife!  (Appointment at City Hall being booked for the end of April! YAY!!)  The two of them have been together just shy of 6 years now so they certainly have formed a wonderful friendship that has survived the rigors of romance as well.  Congratulations you two!

For Christmas this past year my walking partner gave me a lovely Christmas cactus and it is about to bloom!!!  There are two buds starting to open, a third not too far behind them and then several other smaller buds are forming.  How very exciting....I haven't killed the plant and it is happy enough to bloom!!!  As soon as it does I will post a photo to prove even I can grow a plant successfully on occasion!  Blessings to my walking partner for the gorgeous gift!

The Beneficiary Of Someone Else's Birthday Celebration!! WOW!!

 As of two hours ago I am the owner of a brand new computer!!!  I can't believe it and I am SO EXCITED!! Soon I will have left the comfortable old world of Windows 7 behind me...I am being upgraded at last to Windows 11 Pro!  YIPPEE!!

When I woke up this morning I had no idea I was going to be receiving  such a wonderful gift from my husband on HIS birthday, hahahaha. But that is just the kind of considerate man he is.  He has nothing he particularly wants or needs as he celebrates today, so he chose (without any wheedling whatsover from me...honestly it is true), to purchase me a new computer system.  I was flabbergasted when he told me and I think I am only now coming out of shock.  YIPPEE (again)!!!!!  Right now he is checking out the new equipment to make sure it is all in working order and then later on today or tomorrow he will move everything from my current computer onto the new one.  WOW!!  Then he will show me the changes I need to learn so I can operate the Windows 11 programmes.  Thank you precious husband for this amazing surprise!!

The only other thing he wanted for his birthday was fish and chips for lunch, so off we went to London Belle!  I had the chicken Caesar wrap with a few fries and he so enjoyed his battered fish. Thus far London Belle has not had to downgrade the amount of fish inside the batter like some other restaurants here have done....we call those meals batter and chips with a small side of fish....little skinny filets that are almost unnoticeable inside the thickly battered outside covering. Yuck! We shared a sticky toffee pudding with iced cream for dessert. Yum! He really enjoyed himself and I had a wonderful time too.  What a great mood he is in today, feeling celebratory this birthday for the first time in a number of years.

Tomorrow is our 48th wedding anniversary and all he wants to do for that is take me to lunch at Memories restaurant where we can listen to the oldies on their speaker system while we relax over our lunch.  I am laughing because we have never needed a celebratory reason to eat in a restaurant, but he is acting like it is a really big deal. hahaha I gave him his anniversary gift some time ago now, more computer related "stuff" as it was on sale, so he is very happy.  Our son also received his 45th birthday computer monitors 3 weeks early because of a sale we found.  Now he will be able to have two monitors both on his home system and in his art studio.  That completes our celebratory family giving for this year.  There are no other family members having birthdays or anniversaries after the first week in April.  It is nice to have that gap before Christmas shopping starts closer to the end of the year.

It is a gorgeous day outside today. Once again the sun is shining, the temperature is working its way up to +3C, the wind is only a breeze....quite lovely and I may go for a SHORT walk later this afternoon.  Now that I know my limits I will be sensible about how much ground I cover...I promise!

We were able to unload all our recycling items today.  That leaves a considerable amount of space free in the basement for my husband as he works on other clearing out projects.  So, we had a productive morning before the computer gifting and fish 'n' chips lunching began.

My husband as started bringing my spring/summer clothing tubs up from the basement.  It is too soon to get rid of all the fall/winter items from the clothing racks I am using, but it is time to start sifting through everything, trying things on to decide if they are wearable for "just one more year" or not, plus I have pulled the heaviest winter pants and sweaters from the bedroom closet for re-tubbing.  The past couple of Sundays in church and even here at home lately, I have been absolutely sweltering hot with heavy sweaters and turtlenecked shirts.  Time to start transitioning the wardrobe!

This is a very happy week for us. My husband is using my computer updating as his "time out" project for the next couple of days as he continues readying himself for his teaching sessions over the next couple of days and on the weekend.  Lucky me is all I can say! God bless him!!!

Setting The Boundaries For Walking

 Yesterday on my walk in the lovely sunshine, I deliberately pushed my unhappy hip as far as I dared and managed to walk all through and around our complex.  I walked a total of 9 blocks round trip...laughable in comparison to the 3 or 4 km I used to walk at least 3 times a week, but a big step up after only being able to walk 1 block, then turn around and come back, a total of 2 blocks, when I started out a few weeks ago.  Had I not been alone I may have pushed it one more block, but decided wisdom should prevail for once.  I was conscious of being in a bit more pain overnight than usual and today's first set of physio reps did not eliminate the burning feeling in my hip area like it usually does after walking on the weekends.  So, I think I have hit my limit for distance. Not sorry I pushed it a bit. I am not in agonizing pain, just burning discomfort with the odd jolt from my sciatic nerve; nothing I can't live with easily.  I will not go for a walk today as I have several loads of laundry to do, involving many trips up and down two flights of stairs. Along with the physio reps, that is enough exercise for today.  It seems I am slowing down considerably by the end of even shorter walks and today going up and down stairs is taking me an age in comparison to the last couple of laundry days.  Such is life right now and I am delighted to know I should only have another 5 months at the most of worsening pain at the most. Thanks again for all your prayers.

A couple of summers ago I was visiting a friend in Alberta and we went to the RCMP service dog training school for a demonstration. One little puppy stood out to us because he was an all black shepherd, very unusual among his litter. He was SO CUTE but the trainers were not sure he was going to develop the attention span to become fully trained for police work. Well, this morning I received the delightful news that the wee blackie is now fully trained and has been assigned to a Saskatchewan town not that far from me!  The photo she attached showed an all grown up black shepherd, sitting alertly beside his assigned officer, looking sharp and ready to respond to the next command. It touched my heart!

Proudly he Serves!

Today is warmer again but overcast. My husband sent out a copy of one of his papers he wrote a few years ago, on what it means to fear God and yet obey the command to have no fear, to a group of friends we are getting together with later this week for discussion and snacks.  Should be a lively time!  Right now he is over at the woodworking shop he is setting up in a friend's garage and in awhile he will be helping a newbie woodworker start building some simple bench seats.  How wonderful for him to get some exercise, get out of the house away from the computers and books and do something different for a change. I am happy for him.  Oooh, that means I can make whatever I want for my lunch today since he took his lunch with him!  Oooh, what shall I have, what shall I have??  He can have leftover Indian food for dinner tonight and perhaps I will have some nachos!  For lunch I think I will finish up the last of his wonderful home made squash soup...delish!  It is another good day, a productive day, today.

It's Above Zero Today! YAY!!

Okay, okay, it is only +1C, BUT that IS above zero and I am about to go for another walk.  My walk yesterday expanded to a round trip of about 6 blocks, growth of 2 blocks and while I was rather sore afterward, it felt SO good to get out in the sunshine.  Today there isn't a cloud in the sky immediately overhead so it is a great time to get out once again. The breeze isn't too strong, at least not enough to ruin the walk.  Maybe I can do another 6 blocks now that there is less ice and the puddles on the sidewalk where melting snow drifts are sending water oozing over the pavement are only about an inch deep now at most.

My husband's class on Forgiveness went well again this morning.  We have reached the teachings about dealing with repentence, forgiveness and reconciliation/restoration in Luke and Matthew.  Fortunately we are dealing with a group that easily understand that the so called "steps to forgivness and restoration" in Matthew 18 involve much more than simply following the listed steps.  There are so many other issues to take into consideration before conversations between the wounded and the wounder can even begin....one of the biggest ones is discerning our own motivation, (and perhaps the motivation of the person we are going to talk to as well),  in participating in the entire process and another is understanding in advance that the whole process can still skew sideways no matter how faithfully we follow the process as put forth in Matthew.   When dealing with interpersonal relationships, even within the church, people can surprise us and not always in a happy way. So part of the class will be with how to deal with a situation where asking for forgiveness or trying to talk to people about how they have wounded you, or you them,  results in more emotional trauma.  So much prayer and discernment has to happen both before and during the implementation of Matthew's step by step process.  It is complicated, but worth learning more about how to implement such a potentially messy process that is intended to bring healing between people.

My husband is celebrating a special day this coming week so we went out for lunch at DarBar after church.  There are a number of annual events coming up this week that "require" celebrations and fun.  Looking forward to cramming in some times away from home despite my husband's busy schedule.  

We were hoping to take a hotel for a couple of nights next weekend....when my husband is preaching and presiding at an Anglican service out of town.... partly for fun and partly because there is the threat of significant snowfall in the present forecast. The highways may be very bad by Sunday morning.  However, when I went online early this morning to look at the hotel and B&B accommodations, there are no rooms available!  I suspect there is some kind of huge conference or such going on  there next weekend.  Shoot, on the one hand, BUT God knows more about what we are supposed to be doing next weekend than we do so there may be a very good reason to stay home and brave the drive next Sunday. Possibly the snowfall won't be as bad as currently expected, so we won't have to spend as much money by going on an end of winter mini-holiday. Technically spring began on March 21, but early spring here is nearly always just an extention of the end of the winter season....that goes on  until somewhere past mid April or even longer.  A selfish reason I personally wanted to be gone next weekend is that our next door neighbours are moving out then and we are very, very sad to lose them. We have already said our goodbyes and shed a few tears and hugs together so it would have been very nice not to witness their actual departure.  Sigh....oh dear, dear Lord, protect us as new tenants move in.  We have been blessed in the ten years we have been here with mostly wonderful folk on the other side of the wall.

Time to go out and have the walk I was ranting on about at the start of this post!

I Made It To The Breakfast After All!

I was delighted to wake up this morning and discover that there had been no freezing rain overnight and the snowfall was minimal.  It meant I could go to the women's breakfast at church.  It took less than 5 minutes to get the car started, the snow brushed off the car and the tiny amount of windshield ice scraped off.  I had to cross one busy intersection on foot when I parked near the church, but the ice patch in the centre of the crosswalk was easy to skirt around, so there was no problem in getting from car to building and back.  I am happy that I went as it has been some months since I have been free to attend.  It is a gathering where I usually get the opportunity to visit with some of the church women I don't cross paths with very often on Sunday mornings at services, so that is always a treat.  The food was yummy....Easter bread with toppings available, yogurt and fruit, coffee and an excellent selection of teas.  The short Bible study from the Book of Ruth set the group up for a bit of discussion about some of the female mentors we have each had in our lives over the years. One of the women sang a couple of songs she wrote during times of stress, when God used other women to get her through the dark times, so that was most meaningful.  It was a nice morning and I am glad I was able to be there.  Now that the weather is better I hope I will be able to go to the next two or three before the annual summer shut down of the church programmes.

The freezing rain possibility has moved into the wee hours of tomorrow morning and that may have an effect on getting my husband first to church to teach his next installment of his Forgiveness seminar, then quickly over to another church where he is supposed to be attending a weekend evening and Sunday morning seminar....which he sadly forgot about last night when it was slated to begin.  Fortunately he is not a presenter, but he felt very silly and very disappointed that his memory failed him about the event.  Should there be freezing rain coating car and streets, I will stay home and watch his class and the church service as well on Zoom....he doesn't need the worry of me being outside on the ice....sure hope that once again the forecast will be incorrect!!! How many times will my "luck" hold on this one in the coming week or two? hahaha

I am already praying about our trip out of town next Sunday for my husband to preach and preside at a former church of ours.  In good weather it takes nearly an hour, but snow is predicted to start next Thursday or Friday and continue throughout the weekend, leaving the highways in a mess of ice and slush once the semi traffic melts the snowfall down. It will depend on the air temperature whether or not the highway is safe to travel.....or even open.  The forecast appears to indicate one of our infamous end of March spring storms is on the way.  We will watch the forecast predictions each day this week and my husband will get his sermon prepared by Thursday in case we have to head out for a winter laced "mini-holiday" that would encompass the entire weekend and maybe then some.  It WOULD be fun to get away for a few days.....neither of us would complain.....  So time will tell over the coming week. Maybe something unique to look forward to????

Dancing In The Light Of The Moon And The Snow!

 It is magical outside tonight.  It is nearly 11pm and my husband and I have been outside on our front stoop dancing around like two crazy people, enjoying the giant swirling snowflakes with the moon beaming down on us.  The huge fluffy flakes are SO beautiful. Watching them swirling around in the south east wind and flashing in spirals under the street light gives me a feeling that "all's right with the world" because the beauty is so emotionally edifying.  When we came back inside the house my hair and my husbands woolly vest were covered in gorgeous fluffy flakes.  I LOVE a night like this despite the dropping temperature outside.

It is possible I won't make it to the church breakfast in the morning.  There is a good possibility of freezing rain arriving part way through the dark hours and, on top of a layer of freshly fallen snow, that will create a nightmare of ice under foot. I won't be able to walk anywhere outside if that happens.  Actually I am not terribly disappointed about the prospect of not being able to attend as I am very tired this evening.

I am tired because I went all out on my exercising today.  I did my physio therapy right after breakfast, then went running errands around town.  That included a walk down each wing of a large indoor mall, which was tiring for my sore muscles in the "bad leg".  Not wanting to use one longer than usual walk as an excuse to avoid the other two daily physio sessions, I persevered and did them and now my poor leg muscles are screaming for a lie down.  Mentally it was a real boost and even more so now that it appears that the weather will prevent me from getting out to walk again for at least a few days.  

Lying down is my hope, along with falling asleep soon, BUT there is a police check stop going on right across the street from the bedroom, so there are red and blue lights flashing outside the window blinds, engines revving and a few raised voices as some of the drivers are beginning to resent the long hold up that comes when so many cars on a busy Friday night are being pulled over on this very busy main thoroughfare.  Ahh well, eventually the check stop will come to an end.

The weather is so crazy in March.  This morning I was out and about and didn't even need my gloves once I got the car warmed up. Tonight we needed not only gloves but parkas and socks and shoes to be outside in the snowfall. Brrrrr....

Happy ALMOST Spring Everyone!

If I Can Just Get Through To Next Monday....

 ....without waking up in the morning to discover lights on all over the house, then I think this most recent and unexpected bout of sleepwalking may be over!  that would mark a full week without any evidence of any nighttime trippin' on my part.

I set up a system last week, all the "bells and whistles", (actually only one bell and no whistles, only a string, but ya' know....), that would alert my sleeping husband that I was partaking in unnecessary nocturnal wanderings. That bell hasn't rung the past few nights.

Hopefully this is the end of the sleepwalking nonsense!!

Where Has This Week Disappeared To?????

 It seems like just yesterday that  I last posted on this blog, but it has been several days now since that entry!

My goodness....if I had some kind of exciting news to report then the gap between posts would make sense, but I can't say anything spectacular has been going on.  

We did have a great time Monday evening with one of our small groups.  It was St. Patrick's Day and so my husband and I went through the house looking for some green coloured items to put into a small gift bag for the one Irishman in our group.  Since we couldn't find any St. Pat's Day greeting cards in our nearest card shop...what the heck, but guess they don't sell well enough any more to stock them....I did manage to find a card in my own card supply box that featured dark green and white cafe chairs as the front photo, so that had to be good enough!  We did find some sodas in green cans, some candies in green wrappers, a green pen with green ink, a green toothbrush, green tea packages, a green gift bag, a green ribbon to tie it shut with and a bunch of green coloured stickers to decorate the outside of the bag with.  There were the usual shamrock stickers, hearts, fish, butterflies, milkshakes, birds, cacti, salads....all manner of things green.  The fellow who received the gifts laughed and laughed and laughed as he had never in his life received a gift on St. Patrick's Day.  He certainly seemed to enjoy our silly offering of love.  His wife brought delicious cookies to the gathering to celebrate and our hosts created a trifle type dish with brownie chunks as the base, chocolate pudding as the custard, green whipping cream and green sprinkles over the top.  We are very grateful to have a bona fide Irishman among us to give us an excuse to celebrate and over indulge on the treats.  With the rest of life being so stressful for us all right now, it was wonderful to just relax and be goofy for an evening.

Tuesday, while my husband was out with friends shopping for lumber for their bench building project, I took advantage of his absence to go and pick up a few groceries by myself.  As much as he prefers to accompany me on all my errands in case I trip and fall and need help, I admit  I kind of enjoyed having one out  trip on my own.  I flew through the aisles....well, not exactly "flew" with a cane and a hip needing replacing, hahaha....but  I was not hampered by having to wait while my penny wise husband compared prices on half the stock on the shelves! hahaha

We had a successful banking appointment this week, but it took quite a lot longer than expected. By the time we got out of the office it had been too long for both  of us since a very early morning breakfast, so we stopped in at the nearest restaurant to the bank. It turned out to be a Famoso's.  Since we love their tomato bisque, it was not a sacrifice to have some for lunch!!  It comes with two pieces of toasted pita for dipping. Oh gosh, it is so yummy!!!  We were able to take advantage of their lunch special so it was a good deal.  When my husband's tummy starts to churn and he is feeling nauseous we have to get him food NOW if not sooner, so I am most grateful we were only steps away from Famoso's, rather than having to drive him all the way home and then put a lunch together. So grateful!  He was able to stave off a severe tummy episode.  Bile duct issues coupled with PTSD stress from over committing himself this past three months have made for a full time war in his digestive system. Fortunately he only has about three more weeks of teaching and preaching and presiding over church services before he gets a much needed break.

Yesterday afternoon and evening we were able to relax and catch up on the past few days of the spring Sumo Tournament in Osaka.  There have been quite a few surprises in the standings and we have seen some moves rarely accomplished by some of the wrestlers.  What a great basho, however I am missing Terunofuji and Takakeisho very much since they both retired.

Today has been  good day too.  My Thursday coffee buddy and I finally got over to the newest Creme Cafe in Harbour Landing for a Creme Brulee tart and a cup of Earl Grey tea....AND best of all a great visit since our weekly meetings have been cancelled so often due to bad weather so often since December.  

I am happy that one of my friends who I have been visiting for months during her extended hospital stay is improving to the point where it is possible she MAY be able to return home in another week or two.  Hopefully it will turn out that way.  Her husband is certainly thrilled about the possibility.  Praying...

Tomorrow I will take a second trip out for some small errands on my own.......Lord willing and nothing else crops up by then. I am going to discipline myself to just take my time and not worry about how long it is taking me to do some window shopping at the mall in between errands.  Since the weather is finally improving and there are some bare spots at last on sidewalks and parking lots, I admit  I am rather excited to be able to get out and about to the best of my ability.

Saturday mornnig is the women's breakfast at the church. I signed up to attend. Perhaps I actually will go this time after copping out of all of them for the past six months or so.  I need to show more interest because I do love the women in the church. They are very, very nice and kind and welcoming.  I need to show them more appreciation for the work they put into these events.

There is lots of sun shining through our slightly overcast sky this afternoon. It is above zero at the moment and I noticed this morning as I arrived home from Creme that the sidewalk around my place is completely dry. I think it is time to go outside and take a short walk.

Tough Losses...Some Poetic Encouragement!

Our soon to be daugher in law is experiencing a tough day today.  She lost her mother at the age of 16, over half of her lifetime ago and today is the anniversary of that loss.  Below is the link to an Elizabeth Bishop poem that she finds helpful.  After reading it my husband and I realize we can both relate to different parts of it specifically, as well as the poem as a whole.

Enjoy:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47536/one-art

Marriage License: Check....Wedding Date: To Be Decided Next Week!

Our son and his girlfriend phoned us tonight with some very exciting news:  last week they went to City Hall for their marriage license at long last and next week they will call to make their appointment for the actual marriage ceremony.  We are going to become INLAWS!!!  Never ever thought we would have the word applied to ourselves.  Incredible....

The kids are really happy and excited.  They said the experience of getting the license was a truly NYC experience from the variety of people in the waiting room to the range of clothes they were wearing, to the various ethnic groups and when our kids were called in to have their licensing completed the fellow serving them was a giant of a man in droopy skateboard pants, his cap on backwards and with a chest covered in heavy gold chains.  As he handed them the completed license he said very sincerely, "Good luck youse guys!"  They said the whole experience was delightfully colourful, everything was done in  NYC's unique style.   We are thrilled to pieces to get this news.

The only disappointment is that we will not be able to honour our son's hope that we could show up down there to celebrate with their friends at a small house party after the marriage.  It will be too short of notice for us to book a place to stay and guarantee we can get flights, but those things could likely be overcome, IF I wasn't on my surgeon's emergency waiting list for hip replacement.  While it is unlikely I would be having surgery in the next 55 days, if that call comes in and I miss it I would be bumped back to the bottom of that list, or maybe even removed from it altogether after being told to stick close to home "just in case".  I love my son and soon to be daugher in law most dearly, but I can't risk losing a surgery date to go to NYC for less than a full day's activities.  Anyway, the point is that our son is being married soon....WOW...we never thought it would happen. We are so grateful he has found such a wonderful woman to spend the rest of his life with. Thank you God! Through many romantic (and other) dangers, toils and snares he has already come.....wow...the happiest news ever for us and for him!

Some Days Are Just Joyful!! SO Thankful For Them!

Every once in awhile there is a day that makes me feel peaceful joy inside and today has been one of those days thus far.  The weather, though cold enough overnight during the present cold snap to require us plugging in our car overnight, cleared off by the time we had to go to church.  There were only about 2cm of snowfall overnight and no new icy rain stuck on the car, so it didn't take long to sweep off the vehicle and hie away to the church so my husband could teach the second installment of his course on Forgiveness.  The class size, despite the poor weather, grew from 22 to 27, so while my husband is not a numbers counter to determine the success of the class, he was encouraged that the people from last week returned this week.  We are moving now into a session on how different cultures in our now multi cultural nation view concepts like forgiveness and how we may need to change our approach to dealing with hurts and wounds when we are dealing with these other cultures.  I am glad to be getting a recap of many Scriptures that talk about repentence and forgivness and reconciliation.  When they are all put together in a unit it is amazing how much of the biblical teachings involve those ideas.  I am already looking forward to next week.  These are complicated ideas to carry out in our crazy society, even within the church family at large and we haven't talked about them nearly enough in recent decades it seems.  

Today was very nice for me as it seemed that both before and after class and church service there were many folk who wanted to chat about a number of subjects with me. I LOVE visiting....hahaha, yes I know a lot of you are more than aware of that already....so it was a particularly fulfilling social time this morning.  I reconnected with a couple who have been mostly watching on Zoom for the past few years, but they showed up at church in person the past couple of weeks and wow, they are such deep thinkers. I learn so much from them so it is a treat to be able to connect once again.

My husband just woke up from an afternoon nap.  With the DST starting up again and us living in a province that doesn't utilize it, our kids in the States are now two hours ahead of us in time.  They are going to call us "this evening", so it could still be before our supper time when we connect.  I detest the two hour time difference.  Going off DST every autumn is a relief to me because it reduces our time difference to just one hour and makes connecting by phone and online somewhat easier.

Off to the financial advisor tomorrow to sort out some income tax info, run some errands and then hunker down for a couple of days so I can get some serious housework accomplished. I did get the laundry done and put away yesterday and will iron a small number of items this evening, then on Tuesday I can start cleaning. There are a few extra tasks I need to see to this week.......wiping down some cupboard doors and the inside of the refrigerator come to mind. Ho hum, but they must be done.  I SHOULD be able to see my morning coffee buddy at last later this week as the weather seems to be going to cooperate by then.  No more freezing rain in the forecast for the week.   Looking forward to a productive week ahead.

 

Not A Dismal Funeral, But A Celebration Of Life!

The funeral we went to this afternoon was most uplifting.  It was for a woman from our church who has suffered all manner of health issues her entire life, but whose simple, joy filled faith in Christ gave her much strength and encouragement that she shared with one and all.  It was so nice to see the extended family that she talked about with love and concern, to hear their stories about her life during the eulogy, to sing the hymns and songs that she had chosen and hear the Scriptures that described her spiritual life so well.  What an amazing sister in the Lord.  It was tempting to remain at home as we had a fair amount of freezing rain early this morning, followed by a few centimetres of fresh snow that made walking treacherous.  We are very happy that we decided not to let the weather prevent us from attending.  

After the funeral we were both past ready for lunch, so off we went to Bushwakkers. We haven't been there much in recent years so it was quite a treat to have something tasty and good.  They used to be rather expensive compared to other pubs and restaurants around here, but now their prices, since they have remained virtually unchanged in recent months, match the prices at other places where the food isn't quite as well prepared and the portions are far smaller than we had at Bushwakkers today.  My taco salad was really delicious and HUGE. My husband's burger was thick and juicy and they allowed him to leave off the cheese and double the mushrooms, plus the amount of fries was so large it bordered on ridiculous. Half his plate of fries is currently in our refrigerator for another day.  Stopped at the pharmacy on the way home from the restaurant and braved walking across the crowded parking lot from the only open space we could find to park in.  By then the temperature, while still below zero, had risen sufficiently that the ice and snow had turned to slush in quite a few places so the streets and sidwalks, while not pleasant to traverse, were at least less dangerous for me to walk on.

I enjoyed doing my physio exercises this week, but am very glad now for the weekend off.  The thigh muscles around the fracture and the old hardware started to bother me again today for the first time since I began taking muscle relaxants.  Hopefully I just overworked them or something.  If those relaxants are already ceasing in their effectiveness it is going to be a much more painful wait for the surgery.  Here's hoping a weekend off will make those muscles feel better.  A couple of times today I experienced a spasm while walking that felt for a split second like my leg was going to give out on me. Dang it!  That problem is why I began taking muscle relaxants in the first place and there really aren't any other meds stronger than I am already taking....at the maximum allowed daily dose.  Hmmm....well, let's hope for the best.  

My husband's blocked bile duct seems to be clearing now after a miserable ten days or so.  I am relieved for him as he has so many wonderful teaching and preaching committments over the next month.  He was feeling terrible for too many days in a row and I was becoming concerned.  Every few years this happens, but at least he knows what to do to calm his stomach when episodes of pain arise.  This was a rather short session and for that we are both grateful.  

The countdown is on for our next door neighbours moving out. They will be gone between the 29th and the 1st.  Instead of feeling heartsick about who we may get next, I am continuing to pray and trust God to work out one more good neighbour on the other side of the wall before we can HOPEFULLY move out of this complex ourselves after, or at least between, my two hip surgeries.   I find I am again looking at everything we still own and in my mind I am thinking, "Yup, that will come with us, but no, that won't be coming along this time."  As winter has a hope of moving out of here in the next month I find I am feeling more mentally prepared again to handle another move.  We shall see how it all works out......

Tomorrow I will either do laundry again or I will spend the day reading and dozing.  The weather is not inspiring me to go out anywhere on my own while my husband tweaks is Sunday class presentation, that's for sure.

Sleep Walking Again?? O Please…Hopefully Not!!

 It has been an unsettling week for me, I must admit.  Strange things have been occuring in our home overnight in the past three days that have me somewhat concerned about my own state of affairs.

This morning when I got up and went downstairs for breakfast the kitchen light was on.  My husband was still asleep when I woke up so I assumed that at some point during the night he had slipped out of bed and headed down to the kitchen for a snack, then forgotten to turn off the light.  However, that was not the case according to him.  He woke up rejoicing in the wonderful uninterrupted sleep he had last night.  Hmmmmm....

I told him about finding the light on and he looked puzzled. "It wasn't me.", he said.  
"I haven't been up in the night to get a snack for nearly a week now.".  Then he told me that two nights previously, one of the rare nights when I fell asleep before he did, he noticed light coming up the stairwell from the living room after I was asleep.  Sure enough, when he went downstairs to check, the living room light was on.  He was surprised I had forgotten to turn it off as I don't leave lights on once it is bedtime.

The reason for that is my little OCD routine that I do each and every night when it is time to head off to bed.  The routine doesn't ever vary:  go into kitchen, make sure back door is locked, shut out sink and/or overhead light, open basement door to make sure lights are off down there, walk into living room, make sure front door is locked,  turn on stairwell light, turn off living room light, stand on stair landing and mentally review that I have completed each step downstairs while also looking into the darkened downstairs seeking any sign that a light has been left on, climb stairs, shut off stairwell light.  OCD doesn't allow me to become distracted from or forgetful of any of the steps in the routine.  I have been following this routine every night for the past more than ten years that we have lived in this suite and never made an error.

So, I suppose one unexpected omission  could be just that, but two in one week?  I know that I know that I know that each night this week I ran through my mental checklist before going upstairs to sleep.

This has certainly gotten my attention and I admit has shaken me up just a tad.  During past times of sleepwalking....which haven't happened in a few decades now....turning on lights in the middle of the night is just "what I do".  Since I have clear memories of completing my OCD inspired nightly downstairs shut down routine on the nights in question does that mean I have started sleepwalking again???? What the heck???!!

If I am it means I am walking down and back up a flight of 13 stairs, sans cane, with a hip that needs replacing.  If I was ever to fall on those stairs in the night.....oooh, it doesn't bear thinking about.  

Am I developing dementia and thinking I have completed my OCD driven unchanging nightly routine when in fact I have not??  Or has some other now forgotten stress caused me to miss reviewing my routine a couple of nights this week, therefore missing what would normally seem to be quite obvious in our small downstairs space that a light was still glowing from somewhere down there???  That seems most unlikely to me and to my husband as well.

Well, I guess I will see how the next week or so pans out and if any more lamp lights are discovered burning downstairs between bedtime and breakfast the next morning.  Oh, I do hope not, I do, I do, I do.  If I am sleep walking I can only hope that my husband wakes up from those deep sleeps of his and discovers me doing it so he can keep an eye on me until I make my way back to bed. If that is happening again I am going to have to seek some medical intervention before I end up hurting myself. 

Aiiii yiiiii, what next???? 

PS the rest of this week has gone very well despite freezing rain keeping me inside yesterday and a power outage this morning and some issues I had to deal with regarding missing T5's for my income tax, etc.  hahahaha  Thankful for some company and phone calls and emails with friends.

A Little Rebellion Eating: Bad For My Diabetes But Good For My Soul

My husband and I had our six month dental cleanings this morning. Since he can't force himself to have more than a cup of tea prior to earlier morning dental appointments, he was ravenous not too long after we emerged from the clinic.  Burgers and fries of the fast food variety were what he was craving....very rare occurrence I must add.  So off to the nearest fast food burger place and that was an A&W.  Since it had been several hours since my very early breakfast and I was feeling a tad rebellious after a month of dietarily behaving myself VERY well, I decided to have a "rebellion feast" as I call my two or three times a year total carb, fat and salt blowout.  I ordered a teen burger and fries and a diet rootbeer.  Terrible, terrible things to put into my body but I loved every mucky, salty, gooey, soggy,dreadful mouthful. I even had some ketchup on my fries.  Poo poo pea doo!!  Yummy.  I came home and immediately did two full reps of physiotherapy exercises, washed up last night's before bed snack dishes, shovelled off the front porch and sidewalk since we had some freezing rain and snow early in the morning and generally tried to remain upright for the best part of an hour to work off at least a few of the baddies in my digestive system.  I guess it was my "reward" for only eating a few fish pakora at DarBar yesterday so I wouldn't get carried away by ordering a combo platter and eating more than I needed. Is that what you call HighReward/HighRisk?? hahaha  Anyway it was a wonderful time out as we giggled incessantly and were quite full of our own rebellion....cholesterol and diabetes be jiggered!!!!

I had a glorious afternoon last Saturday!  A friend who teaches sewing to the women at a local addictions rehab facility invited me to come to a photography display that six of the women were putting on.  Each of them had a series of photos they had taken around the city, of family members, other places and people that meant a lot to them over the course of their life's journey and then under each photo was a written explanation of what the photo represented and other tales of their addictions and losses and gains.  It was absolutely fascinating, made more so by the presence of all six of the women who were more than willing to sit with us and have coffee and a visit.  The courage they all had to be so vulnerable through their writing truly touched my heart.  All six of them were beautiful, courageous women determined to get their lives in order and to avail themselves of all the help and support available to them.  It was a marvellous cross cultural afternoon, both socially and ethnically.  Since they all knew my friend from sewing classes they were willing to meet me as well and talk openly.  I was blown away by the depth of their expressions in photography and the written word.  What a great time of learning for me. 

I think I will just enjoy the rest of my day.  A group of friends is coming over on Thursday afternoon so I am going to spend some time between now and then slowly cleaning house again in preparation.  I will bake something and my husband will take our coffee carafes down to the Naked Bean to have filled with caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee.  It will be a lot of fun. Some of them have been away world travelling, so I am looking forward to hearing about their amazing trips.  It is going to be a good week despite our weather leaving something to be desired!

A Difficult Sunday For Our Congregation!

What a morning at church today!  Yikes!!  So many new people on our prayer list this coming week!!

The morning started off well. My husband had a full class of folk for his first session dealing with Forgiveness, so that encouraged him.  It was a happy start after stressing himself out about it all last week, hahaha....he just is that way, wanting to do a faithful job of teaching and being concerned that what he says may have the ability to improve something for at least one or two listeners.  Pastors, eh???  hahaha

Once we got into the church service things became difficult for everyone: the first announcement was of the unexpected death of a middle aged congregant.  She went into the hospital to have her pacemaker changed, told her best friend that she felt God had prepared her that she may be leaving this earth instead and sure enough.  She was wheeled into the OR and before any incisions could be made her heart stopped and the OR staff were unable to revive her.  That woman was ready to go, that's for sure. She had a simple and real, firm and steady faith in the Lord and I will miss talking to her. She was not a complicated person and was a treat to chat with. The funeral next week is going to be difficult in that way for lots of people who could see her living out her faith in spite of many, many life obstacles.

Part way through the sermon a fellow sitting behind us had a medical issue arise and had to be helped out of the sanctuary into the narthex to await the EMT's.  We have the most amazing ushers...they were all over him within seconds to help him while the pastor stopped preaching and had us all stand up to sing the first verse of Amazing Grace.  The EMT's were still working with him after the service as we all filed out of the church by a different door and we pray he is going to be okay.  

My husband and I thought that had to be "it" for disasters among our congregation for today. WRONG again!!  As we were on our way to our car so that we could drive to DarBar to meet church friends for lunch, we received a text that the friend in question had just been in a serious car accident!!!  Thankfully no one was seriously injured after a car ran a red light in front of her as she was progessing through an intersection, but part of the front end of her car is torn completely off from the impact and will require extensive and expensive repairs.  We could hardly believe it. She was able to get her car going again, meet us for lunch and take the time to download her shock reactions.  The poor woman!!!  Fortunately one of the businesses beside the intersection where the accident happened has the whole thing on camera to send to the insurance company. Whew!!  The people in the vehicle she hit began immediately blaming her and that shook her up rather badly.  Been there, done that myself once long ago.  It does add to the shock, that's for sure.  Now I pray she will not be reliving the accident in her mind for the next few weeks or months and that there will be no ongoing physical aches and pains from the impact.

Watching the cars around us as we drove home after lunch we seemed to be seeing a pattern of even worse driving than usual around here....unbelievable to us that it could be so much worse than it is on a day to day basis as a matter of course! Perhaps we were just on hyper alert after what happened to our friend.

We are grateful for the excellent food at DarBar as it was as tasty as always...it seemed particularly good today, perhaps because we were hurting over all that had gone on that morning and found the warm spicing on the freshly prepared food very comforting in mind as well as in body.

Since we arrived home we have been resting and chatting about our friends, praying for them, hoping for all to be well for them all, thanking God that the friend who died is now safe from all of life's trials.

We have one more week of quite decent early spring weather before another somewhat cold snap starting next weekend. There may be snow flurries a couple of days this week, perhaps even some freezing rain late tomorrow morning and I can only pray it doesn't come until after we get home from our morning dental appointments as I will be driving...my husband has terrible reactions to dental work as there are hardly any procedures that don't make him dizzy, products for teeth that don't make him ill for a few hours...even a cleaning puts him out for the entire day usually.  Poor guy.  He has finally convinced the dentist not to tilt the dental chair so far back and last time we were there the hygienist gave him a special neck pillow so he wouldn't have to tilt his head back  without more support.  They are a wonderful crew in that dental office. God bless them all!

So now I am off to start the next reading project my husband and I are going to do together: Marilynne Robinson's "Housekeeping".  We also have a line on some Wally Lamb books a friend recently recommended to us, so that will be next on our list.  Love love love reading books together!

Vicarious Adventuring!

 Our son is working on a lighting project this week at the Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibition is wonderful: a collection of Torlonia marble Roman Sculptures.  His having access up close to such amazing works of antiquity is such a privilege and he is most appreciative to be able to participate in showing them off to the public.  If you happen to be heading to Chicago, the exhibition opens on March 15 and runs through until June 29.  How I wish we could go there to view it!  Here are a couple of photos of some of the sculptures:

Some minor restorations pre-opening.

 

In other news: again many thanks to those of you who continue to pray for Nan since she lost Cee last autumn.  She has been faced with more challenges to deal with on her own in those few months than I have had to face in a number of years!  She has handled so many stresses it is unbelievable and yet she is soldiering on, meeting each issue head on and solving them all as they arise.  she is missing Cee desperately of course, but she is determined to do her best to carry on and find the meaning in her life now that she is on her own.  thanks for praying for her, keep praying as God leads and may the lord continue to grant her such strength and courage as she has shown thus far.

A visit with my walking partner yesterday and an equally wonderful visit today with not only my coffee buddy but also with a dear friend from alberta have all made my week very happy indeed.

It was just warm enough yesterday for the big cats to come in and blade most of the snowpack off the parking lot.  Getting around to the car without having to worry so much about falling on the parking lot ice makes my daily travels much easier.  It is still a bit interesting stepping off our still "over a foot high of packed ice and snow" foot path to the parking lot level, but it is doable if I am careful.  I am hopeful that my husband will not have to arise any more mornings before he is ready to wake up in order to move the car to the front street for me to access it safely.

as the warmer weather slowly melts the snow and ice....slowly is good as it prevents a lot of flooding....life seems to be improving in every way. There will be more snowstorms before the end of this month and/or into April, but that fresh snow will not last more than a few days. Spring will be late this year, BUT it is on the way at last!

I Guess “Uncle Harry” Has Finally Gone To Meet His Maker…

 ….the usual trio of first to arrive geese have not returned this year. The constantly squawking Uncle Harry, as I dubbed him, has not come  back to continue his years long frantic search for his missing mate. I hope he is finally at peace. This year there are two couples screeching at each other as they vie for whatever teensy dry patches of still dead grass are available in among the still deep snow cover on the lawns. None of them are banded so none of them are the returning “Abraham and Sarah” who, along with Uncle Harry, arrived back in the area incredibly early each year for at least six years. These four are slightly smaller in build and are far feistier than our former early birds. My poop scooping shovel has been retrieved from the basement and is at the ready for what may be a very crowded spring out on our lawns…..another reason our next door neighbours are moving is the constant poopy mess from the geese. I get it….it is disappointing that such gloriously beautiful birds have to be so destructive and messy.

Prayer Request Over Some Disappointing News Here

 I just had a phone call from our next door neighbours.  They are moving very unexpectedly.  Due to the number of repairs their suite has required since they moved in nine months ago and the fact that their basement continues to flood even after resealing it only a couple of weeks ago, they have been allowed out of the remaining months of their lease.  They are already having viewings of other places to live.

I confess that I am gutted by this.  Of course I am delighted for them that they will be able to move into more suitable quarters for themselves. My gutted feeling is completely selfish and I confess that.  NOW who is going to move in next door??  We have been so blessed by all but one set of tenants on the other side of the wall in the just over ten years we have lived in here.  Is it possible that God could bless us once again with tenants as quiet as all the others have been?  Is it okay to ask once again for tenants we can stand to be in such  proximity to in terms of noise?  

If it wasn't for this upcoming surgery of mine we too would be on the way out of here in another month or two.  Then will we be stuck for another six or seven months or more after that if the second surgery ideed scheduled that soon after the first one?  Limbo Land is getting more difficult to deal with all the time.  How much can I push my husband to start downsizing seriously again in the very near future?  He is very busy teaching and preaching for the next couple of months so his mind is not going to be on cleaning more "stuff" out of our basement until then.  

Okay, I am rambling on and on here. Forgive me.  My neighbours have just thrown me for a loop.  My well organized little scenario of having our good neighbours beside us until WE are ready to move has just been blown to pieces and reality has intruded upon my peace of mind. So, Lord, what is going to happen THIS time around??

 Thanks for your prayers friends and family.  I will calm down in a couple of hours.  Washing dishes and doing my physiotherapy will be good energy "user uppers"!!   

On a happier note, my husband decided that after we did chores this morning, I should at last take him to The Cottage for lunch.  We enjoyed our meal very much and the service was excellent.  My husband ordered the lunch sized lasagna and it is just the right size that I could have that as well sometime without sending my blood sugar into hyperspace. His mushroom soup looked delicious too and so did his garlic toast.  I had the Greek chicken.  It came with a piping hot bowl of lemon chicken rice soup with freshly cracked pepper, a dollop of Caesar salad that was average, but the lettuce was fresh and it was just nice to have some "greens" that were not slathered in dressing.  My chicken was a generous portion size with a good topping of feta cheese and Greek herbs and the lemon roasted potatoes were actually wonderfully lemony!  I get tired of lemon roasted potatoes that arrive tasting like a lemon wedge MAY have been waved over the top of them, but really having no lemon flavour.  It was a nice lunch. The cost was no more than it is at any of the lunch places we go to. We will go there again sometime.  One of my husband's colleagues was also there having lunch so we had a nice visit with her; icing on the cake.  

The snowy pathway out to the car has melted just enough on top to provide my boots with a bit of traction, so I was able to avoid having to be dropped off at the front door after our outing.  The snow is melting slowly enough that OUR basement thus far has not leaked at all....and also my husband knows what product to use to seal leaks, but I don't think the management company here wants to spend that much money on product for all 316 units with  aging, crumbling foundations.  I am left wondering how long these units will remain and how soon we will get a notice saying we all are going to be evicted because the company is going to tear them down and erect highrise apartments instead.  We heard a rumor to that effect a few weeks ago. How true it is we don't know, but anything is possible in here.  

You know what actually IS good about the current state of things here?  We are being forced into realistically thinking again about moving, about the downsizing that HAS to happen, about whether or not we are going to have to move between my two surgeries, about whether or not God is going to have more adventures for us that we can't imagine at the present time.  Slowly we are going to have to pull our heads out of the sand and realize that life IS going to get moving again and we have to be prepared for upcoming changes....as in TRULY prepared for them to happen any time, not just thinking about them theoretically "in case" they happen at some point in the future.  Maybe it is time to move past merely coping and get excited about what COULD BE!!

My Only Published Poem

 I have exactly one poem that I copyrighted and published...back in the late 1970's. Aiii yiii....apparently writing poetry is not "my thing", but I did give it a try and at least my one small success is based on real life experience.  Possibly I have put this into a post a number of years ago, but I am too lazy to look right now.  I just came across it when I was cleaning out a drawer of old papers.  Enjoy:

LEAVING DIDSBURY

The road...

          dusty...

              weeds blowing...

         tossing lazily from side to side in the heavy breeze.

The fields look scorched...

         dingy amber...

                                dying slowly from drought.

My feet...hot, wet inside scratched hiking boots...

          screaming for a rest:

           Please someone, stop for us. 

           Let us rest until the next loooooong wait...

the endless wait for a ride on a thirsty August afternoon.

Sweat: runs in rivers from my forehead,

            dripping into my eyes,

             adding to my frustration in standing in the road

waiting, waiting....always that wait...

Sweat trickles from my armpits,

around and down my back to the remains of the

waistband on my jeans.

It oozes between my breasts,

                                               slowly,

making my T-shirt sticky, clingy, and uncomfortable.

My long hair is in strings, and I can feel the streaks of dirt

turning my face into yet another roadmap...

          just like the map I have tucked into my pack:

the one with the torn corner

and frayed edges.

And I spit more dusty grit out of my mouth,

wishing my lips were smooth

instead of cracked wide open by the heat.

The sun is right overhead

boring down on the crown of my head,

relentlessly burning the fields still more.

Its rays are no longer welcome here.

The fields and I squint helplessly upward

praying for even a wisp of cloud to block the sun's intensity.

We feel defenseless:

                                       the fields and I...

                              waiting....waiting...waiting...

The small comfort of the breeze has stopped.

 

--Cc 1979 S.B.