No More UPS Or Canada Post Ground Service Either....Yay Tariffs!! Gleep!!!

 My husband is disassembling the  box of goodies he planned to sent to our son south of the border.  After finding out that FedEx was no longer an option for us, our son suggested we try using UPS as he has had to send many paintings to Canada for art exhibitions in the past year.  Weeeelllll....that is no longer an option for sending personal items south.  We rolled up to their office this afternoon and my husband carried his box of stuff inside.  Less than one minute later he emerged, still carrying the box after being told that UPS no longer sends packages via ground transport to the USA.  Too much hassle with paperwork, brokers etc.  He told us to try Canada Post, so although we had little hope of getting the parcel sent that way we took the time to go to an outlet and ask.  Weeeelllll, we COULD use Canada Post....IF we create an online account and then send them the info as to what is in the box, then they will assess what tariffs and other customs costs we will owe and whether or not they will allow us to send it at all, then we pay any costs with our credit card and they email us a special certificate of sending that we print off (thankfully we do have a printer), and take to the post office here to prove that we have permission to send the parcel across the border.  How long this process takes we have no idea and having our credit card on yet another website is not appealing so we will likely never have to find out. Hence, our son will just have to do without the items we wanted to send. One of them should fit nicely into my husband's luggage for our summer trip....a used item that our son once had a great deal of fun with and would enjoy having back again.  

How can you tell we haven't mailed anything stateside since last August when all these new rules and regulations came into effect? hahaha We knew and assumed and are not surprised things have changed drastically, but gosh darn it, what a hassle to send a small box to our own son.  Well, guess he will only be getting new items that we can send through American Amazon from now on. For now at least......

AND gosh darn it all over again....if it isn't going to rain could the steel grey clouds and chilly wind gusts of the past three days just go away so we can enjoy some sunshine???   

My husband went to the doctor this afternoon to hear the test results from his annual physical examination.  Everything is A-OK other than, as usual, his iffy cholesterol count.  The doctor wants him to try one more experiment with his present statin  and then if the new experiment also fails like the last two did and the debilitating headaches return, all he has to do is call and leave a message for the doctor and a new med will be prescribed.  He will run the experiment next week when he returns from his upcoming camping trip. The doctor pronounced him, apart from the cholesterol, "healthy as a horse"!!  So happy for him. It is great news; even greater news at his age!

As is usual for me when he is at the doctor's office, I go along for the ride and shop at the store next to the clinic.  Today I found not one, but two replacement summer dresses for one I had to get rid of. They will be perfect for bopping around in NYC in the heat in August. So inexpensive....so happy....so easy to pack them in my carry on bag....so relieved!! A good day. 

Life Is Finally Getting Back To Normal Again!! YAY!!

It has been a busy and productive couple of days around here.  My husband is nearly back to fully functional, no more issues with his tummy and even the CFS exhaustion seems to be dissipating rapidly.  He hasn't had to nap in either morning or afternoon for most of this week and this morning he was able to go to the lab for some fasting blood work after not eating for over twelve hours, with just a few sips of water to keep his tummy feeling full.  I am so grateful to God for helping him get back on his feet again.  He is teaching tomorrow for the Anglicans and has no stress at all about it, is looking forward to it and did not crash and burn today as he was completing some notes for his talk.  Thank you Lord and prayer warriors!!  What a blessing.

Enjoyed my weekly visit with my coffee buddy yesterday as planned and we had a very nice time this week at Creme drinking London Fogs.  In the afternoon we attended a Bible study that was so good. It has taken us since last September to get about half way through the Sermon On The Mount and will continue on this coming September after the summer break. 

Today was very positive. My husband picked up a camping refrigerator at Princess Auto that he ordered about a week ago.  After it sits for the required number of hours he will test it out both here in the house and, when the rain finally stops tonight and the parking lot is dry tomorrow, using the plug in attachment in the rear compartment of our car.  He splurged big time to ensure he could get a unit with a super duper cold compartment with sufficient voltage to keep things cold for over 24 hours.  When he goes camping next month he and his friend will be able to get pretty much anything needing to be refrigerated into this unit.  It is really easy to move. Not only does it have handles on the sides for picking it up, it also has a retractable handle and is on wheels for rolling along.  I don't know how much use he will actually get out of it over the next couple of years, but I am happy he felt free to buy something expensive for himself for a change!!!  YAY HUSBAND! You too deserve a real treat occasionally!! 

We spent the afternoon at the bank where the mess up happened in regard to the monthly credit limit for our American credit card.  We got some other things straightened out and taken care of for our upcoming vacation AND the woman we deal with there told us that just  yesterday she finally got a response to the email she sent nearly three weeks ago now when we first applied for the card and everything went south.  Apparently there is still a CHANCE that sometime in the next two to three weeks we will get the final answer on our request to have the credit limit changed to what was automatically approved in the first place before the screw up.  So, there is hope.  In the meantime we have come up with another plan that will help us pay for the larger expenses down south that will work if absolutely necessary but does require a lot of fiddling about with finances in the meantime. For now we are content to wait to see what happens.  Either way I think we will be covered now. Hallelujah!

Did a bit of grocery shopping after the bank appointment at SaveOn and discovered some 0 sugar snacks for me to try that aren't so high in fat as some of the other snacks I have seen.  We'll see if the flavour is worth the price. 

After a nice morning the rain appeared once again in the late afternoon and only about 35 minutes from here a tornado touched down in a farmer's field.  Still waiting to find out if it did any damage but looking at the photo the farmer took of it from a couple of fields away it had a substantially sized funnel. Hopefully it disappeared soon after it touched down before it could damage any of his newly planted crop or outbuildings.  This tornado season we may actually have some real tornadoes in the area.  Since our temperature highs next week are going to climb suddenly from the plus mid teens Centigrade to the mid plus 30's in less than 48 hours, I expect we are in for some good storms as a result.  Hopefully no one will be hurt or have any damage from strong winds next week. And please Lord, let there be no hail...please, please, please.....

Tomorrow morning there is a special church ladies' breakfast at the home of Carol!!  We are going to share that time and a meal together in her building's party room.  I am taking a selection of cheeses.  It will be a large group who gathers to celebrate her miraculous recovery.  She is still weak and outside the home uses a walker to support herself, but around home she walks very well on her own.  She has been at the church service for the past three Sundays looking, apart from the walker, as if nothing ever happened to her. Amazing...how grateful to God we all are.

We are praying for Bret again as he is falling into deep depression once again after seeing a lot of improvement for a couple of months.  Please, should the Lord so remind you, pray that he will stop resisting the offered supports and medical help. He is paranoid about going for treatment after a not great experience YEARS ago, but without that medical intervention he isn't likely to improve much.  Praying very much for him and for his worried extended family.  So far he has not been talking about suicide again, but you never know what a person is really thinking when so distressed and afraid.  

Looking forward to church on Sunday. Our pastor and another fellow are going to be talking about heaven and hell over the next two weeks. Looking forward to it. Since I will be out of town for the second talk I am grateful for ZOOM recordings so I can watch and hear the class when I get home.

I have discovered that when I carry a heavy bag of groceries in the hand that is on the same side as my operated hip, I barely limp at all. Why the heck is that???  No bag, super limp; bag, hardly any limp.  I have to figure out why that is and try to adjust my foot and leg placement once again so I can do as well without the bag as with. Always learning new things this old woman....now if I could just learn as many new things about technology I would be SO MUCH better off!! hahahaha  BUT, I have no real interest in putting my entire life on my mobile phone....just can't quite get into it, even though I do envy people who pay for their groceries by holding their phones up to the debit machines.  Maybe one day......sigh......

Miserable Weather For The Long Weekend Here!

Wow, it is very cold and windy outside still today and now we are forecast to have possibly up to 2cm of snow.  For my husband and I it doesn't matter because we are not going away this Victoria Day weekend, but for friends and neighbours who planned camping and "first weekend of the season at the lake" trips it sounds like they won't have as great a time as hoped for.  That is really too bad.  This year the holiday is incredibly early. Even if it could have happened next weekend there likely would have been better weather for our outdoors loving friends.  I feel badly for all of them.  My husband was able to get over to Kat's in the wind and rain showers this afternoon to pick up some of our herb growing pots we left in her yard last autumn and she kindly gave him a bag of potting soil. Bless her.  Tomorrow morning we have to go over to the house of friends who have once again started our tomato plant for us.  The plant has to be picked up right away from their greenhouse despite the ongoing cold weather because said friends are on their way out of town on a holiday in a couple of days.  Unfortunately we are going to have to put the plant inside at our place and hope there aren't too many spiders and other insects crawling around among its leaves....yukko!!!!  It is way too cold yet to put it outside, even in its plastic wrapping cone.  Now I just need to find somewhere to put it where it will get as much sunlight and warmth as possible until at least next weekend when it will hopefully be warm enough to put it out on the deck even if the wrapping has to remain in place for another week after that.  The weather is so weird and wild and woolly this "spring??"!  

Personally I had a very good day today!  I never did get dressed after I cleaned up for the day because I had nary a commitment away from home for a change, not so much as a trek over to the grocery store was needed.  I felt kind of like a happily punctured balloon all day.  The walking outdoors I have been doing is restoring my overall strength and that is wonderful.  Today I looked at the stack of ironing from Tuesday's laundry and after counting the number of items I realized it was a project that would have to be done over two days as I haven't been able to stand long enough since my surgery to do that many items in one go.  Nope....I did the whole stack and my leg and hip were not the least bit tired. Overall my body wasn't tired. My mind wasn't tired.  FINALLY life is starting a return to my new, limping but still active, normal!  What a relief....and it has only taken ELEVEN months to get to this point, hahahaha.  I am very grateful that my overall strength is indeed being restored.  

Looks like it will be too cold and likely rainy to be walking to church on Sunday, but I will get some walking in at the grocery stores tomorrow and by Monday it should be warm enough to walk longer distances outside again. YAY!  I am adopting a slightly more European concept of grocery shopping, purchasing much smaller loads that I can carry home on foot, therefore walking to the store more often each week.  

My next door neighbour got her weekly ride to the food bank today with her sponsor. Shortly after she arrived home she knocked on my door and handed me a loaf of white bread because there had been extra bread in her box that she doesn't want, a bag of shredded mixed cabbage salad with an enclosed carton of soy sauce dressing, another huge handful of cilantro and a pack of celery which they cannot tolerate eating.  She has to take what she is given of course at the food bank, but neither of her other friends like the flavour of the items she brought to me.  As she handed me each of the items a look of horror crossed her face at the idea that we actually enjoy those things. hahaha  My husband looked at the pack of celery and knew instantly how he would be able to use up the now FOUR bundle of cilantro we have received from her: cream of celery soup!  A goodly sized handful of chopped cilantro on a bowl of that soup is fabulously delicious! God bless my neighbour for her generosity.  At least the food so lovingly donated to the food bank will not go to waste.  Once the soup is made we have a couple of people in need that will enjoy receiving it, along with half a loaf each of that bread, so we will not be the only unexpected recipients of the food items.  Tomorrow when I go to the grocery store I am going to pick up a couple of packages of halal chicken to give to our neighbour.  They get very little meat to eat and I know they like chicken, so I would enjoy getting them a treat.  She gives me food several times a month now, either in grocery form or plates of her marvellous cooking. It is really fun slowly getting to know this woman and her children. If my husband can ever lure her husband out of their place to offer him some simple English language help, we will get to know the whole family better.  Praying for all the right things to happen with our dear neighbours.

 

Ooh, Goody, I DID IT!!!

This afternoon I finally got brave and walked to the grocery store and back sans cane....first time I have walked more than about a block and a half without having to use the cane or at least hanging it over my arm "just in case".  This was my first attempt at walking that far on my own....about 7 blocks round trip, plus a tour around the store, up and down the aisles without sitting down anywhere in the midst of the trek.  I am realizing I am slamming my non-operated leg down onto the pavement with more force than necessary so the injured knee on that leg is kind of hurting now...just another adjustment I need to make to my walking gait now that I am determined to use the cane as rarely as I can get away with.  I will rest my knee for the rest of the day and for at least part of tomorrow.  IF the weather is good on Sunday I am going to take the cane with me and walk the happy route I take to church. It is less than 3km I believe.  I was doing over 6km with the cane, leaning on it heavily of course, back in November when I was in Vancouver, so surely 6 months later, now that all the snow and ice have disappeared here, I can make it to church fairly easily, take the break of sitting for the adult class and service and walk home again.  If not the bus that takes me home stops right outside the church doors.  HAPPINESS AND JOY!!! It will be worth trying.

The weather has been very nice today, although now in the later afternoon rain with a possible thunderstorm is pending.  I can't help but hope and pray we do get rain.  Already a patch of bare earth outside our front step is cracked wide open from the dryness.  After a very sunny, bright morning, we took our post luncheon walk under cloudy skies with a breeze, but the air was nice and warm...about +16C.  We enjoyed getting out and about very much.

My husband thus far has had the best day with his health since the twenty-ninth of March!!!  He slept until 6am as usual, but when he woke up then he had no inkling of the start of a tummy upset, so he didn't eat the snack beside the bed, he slept then until nearly 8am when he still had no symptoms, he made a pancake for breakfast and had a cup of light tea, worked at the computer all morning, had lunch with me and our walk to the store. Now he is watching some tv....no stomach or CFS symptoms at all today.   Oh dear God, long may it last.  He went to bed last night knowing he has zero commitments of his own of any kind until next Monday morning's usual Zoom meeting with his retired pastor friends....hardly an onerous task.  He relaxed completely for the first time in weeks.  So thankful he is getting over this episode apparently and that he has been reminded once again that pacing himself with teaching and preaching and other commitments keeps his health more on track even with the CFS.  Thank you to those who have been praying for him.  He is so appreciative and feels less alone in these struggles because you are there for him.

We are still awaiting an update from our bank as to whether or not they have been able to solve the credit card purchase limit that they screwed up so royally for us. However, we have found a couple of ways around the mess if they are unable to fix it before we head south, so if there is no fixing it, we have decided to receive it as God's will for this card.  If nothing else, this fiasco has stimulated my problem solving skills again and I have come up with two very workable scenarios to get around not having sufficient credit card purchase power on our very expensive trip.   Thanks to those of you who told us you are praying this can be sorted out. I think it is all going to be okay and I still haven't lost any sleep from worrying about it...because I'm not actually worrying about it...wow...progress!

Hoping for a quiet weekend, particularly for my husband's sake. Tomorrow we may go out and purchase an inexpensive lawn chair so that he can start sitting out on the back deck to read on sunny days.....he is welcome to the company of both the inordinate number of spiders out there AND the wasps that will be arriving soon and in abundance once our tomato plants arrive next month.  Ick!  We have decided to turn those plants and their produce over to our Syrian neighbours if our trip away actually happens and they are welcome to water the plants and eat all the tomatoes while we are gone.  My dear husband will be sitting out there on his own as I can't handle all the insects....I can't accuse SK of having too few insects, that's for sure, even in the city. Blecch! I am such a wuss..... 

I suppose whatever mental and emotional strength I have, instead of being funnelled into coping with insects, is going to have to be funnelled instead into coping with the price of groceries.  We walked home this afternoon with two small cloth carry bags of items....7 items in total....$101  Sigh..... 

Talk About A GOOD Friday!

 No, sorry, nothing really spectacular happened, BUT my husband had one of the best days with his health that he has experienced in the past five or six weeks.  YIPPEE!!  His 6am possible tummy episodes have now been staved off with a simple glass of water rather than a snack as well, then back to bed for another couple of hours or more of sleep.  NO ATTACKS AT ALL DURING THE DAY OR AFTER ANY MEALS!!  YIPPEE!!  

This morning he came bounding downstairs at 8:30am, all dressed up and happy, (as one does on a warm and sunny spring day!),  good colour in his face and a teasing voice when he told me that if I still planned to grocery shop and run errands this morning I had better get a move on as he would be ready to accompany me by 9am!  I hopped to it and just before 9am we were driving away.  We shopped for various food and other items in 5 different stores around the city. Our last stop was in Cathedral at Cuppa'T for some roiboos.  (Of course I just HAD to go into Paper Umbrella a few doors down to pick up a pack of greeting cards, teehee)

By this time we had been shopping for over two hours and the light snack my husband had wolfed down for breakfast wasn't holding up. We were parked right in front of Orange Cafe (Izakaya), a Japanese/Korean fusion, heavy on the Korean dishes which tend to be smothered in dark, sticky, sugary sauces that I cannot eat, BUT I found a couple of yummy appetizers to make my meal with: the pork spring rolls and the chicken karaage. The spring rolls were hot and delicious with the sweetened chili pepper dipping sauce, but the karaage, tasty as it was, consisted of overly deep fried chicken.  Upon further inspection it appeared the chicken was similar to what I call  the "ground chicken lips" that make up chicken nuggets....BUT it was tasty none the less. I won't order it again because mystery meat has never appealed to me, but my husband's beef and veggie udon was a huge and tasty order. The agadashi dofu in ginger sauce was also a large portion for the money and he said it was very, very tasty.  So far the Japanese style food we are most enamoured with in this area is Mitsu in Moose Jaw, but today's meal was still pretty good.  The prices per portion were fairly reasonable, plus it is restaurant we haven't been to in many, many years so the change of pace was nice.  I am glad we went even though elements of my own meal were only passable to good.

My husband had a bit of a rest when we got home while I put groceries away, then I headed over to a disabled friend's house and spent the afternoon helping her with some minor chores and sharing coffee and conversation.  We had fun looking at an architectural trades magazine of her husband's that had articles on the latest trends in bathroom designs.....oooh, those crazy wet rooms where the soaking tub is in the shower space.  It looks lovely, but those oval shaped tubs are too often NOT comfortable for a person's back and every time someone has a shower they have to clean the bathtub as well so it doesn't get all water marked from the shower head splash.  I have lived in places with that same concept in the past and o wow, not something I would ever have because the amount of cleaning doubles over the more traditional separation of tub and shower, or even the much older fashion of having the shower inside the tub. We had a great time criticizing and commenting on the various new trends in designs and building materials as if we actually knew what we were talking about, hahaha.  It was great fun and I got my 1/3 cup of strong Italian coffee to enjoy...my one indulgence in coffee is when I visit this friend....good thing I am not with her every day, or even every week or I would be on full buzz all the time.

We picked up fresh whole wheat pitas in our travels today so for dinner we had our home made pita pizzas...our go to comfort food after the more salty farmer sausage and mashed potatoes with Brussels Sprouts. 

We both felt well today.  After a miserable sleep the night before, I slept for over 7 straight hours last night, not even awakening to use the washroom; out like the proverbial light and I woke up feeling refreshed and healthy and happy.  My husband observed me walking around the grocery store today and told me another change I need to make to my walking gait. I made the adjustment and with practise it should help the limp more.  Since I no longer have access to my best physiotherapist from another town, my husband has taken it upon himself to watch me walking and offer me suggestions in changing how I move my feet. God bless him. He is a huge help.

Today, after doing a lot of online research last night, my husband came to me with a proposal: he discovered that since in Manhattan short term rentals, other than hotels of course, are not allowed to rent out for a period less than 30 days. The cost for that is not that much more than the cost of 10-14 days in a hotel, plus the BnB places have refrigerators and cooking appliances, etc.  He has sent off a message to our son and his wife to see what they think of this idea. One benefit to them is that if we are there they will not feel obligated to find time almost every day to spend with us the way they do when we are only there for 7-10 days.  We could have a more natural flow for getting together. It could also mean a chance for us all to get into the more northern part of the state for a day or two so at least the three of them could go hiking in the Adirondacks.  I could always hold down the fort back in the city and give my husband a chance to share that kind of outdoor fun they have in common but that I am not as physically capable of doing any more.  Our son was lamenting that we would have to miss celebrating Rosh Hashanah with them as it takes place more than 2 weeks after their wedding party. This way we wouldn't have to miss it at all.  If this trip was to go down this way it would be our last big blowout of a trip.  We are looking at health issues that are starting to accrue for us and realizing that between that and the state of the world in general, which may worsen before it improves, we had best take a good long expensive trip now and not be waiting around missing out.  So this idea may be shot down rather quickly, either by our son, or by some other factor we aren't aware of yet, but it has been fun considering it. My husband will continue to research accommodation if he gets the OK from our son and we are guessing that our more experienced world travelling "kids" will want to assist the old folks in finding the best places and deals on air fare in the coming weeks.  Making plans may just pull us out of the doldrums we have been experiencing since winter started last November.  If this doesn't happen, no biggie, but it is fun to dream. 

I think I will sleep well again tonight....once the caffeine hangover from my 1/3 of a cup of strong Italian coffee finally wears off, haha. 

How QUICKLY Things Change With CFS Attacks!!

 I did indeed end up going out alone to do my part of the shopping expedition my husband planned to join me for this morning, before he woke up between 4am and 5am so very ill.  While I was gone he slept for another nearly 4 hours, didn't even know I left the house and when he woke up it was like sunshine after the rain.  Again with the sudden about face after an episode comes to an end.  I am so grateful the rest of the day has been quite wonderful! (For both of us!)

He decided that since he had been craving greasy fried chicken for the past few days we would go to Beaks for a late lunch.  He certainly got his wish: HUGE portions of everything fatty and greasy and he loved every bite. (When I had an ulcer decades ago the only thing I could eat without becoming ill for most of the first six months was good old greasy KFC!) Yup, all that grease does indeed make the chicken taste fantastic.  hahaha  Giant bowls of gravy and cole slaw. his big plate of fries and a double portion of dill mayo made his world go round. He did bring half of it home.  I had a smaller portion so ate all of mine, but if I had any extra carbs, those and the fat got a good walking off right after lunch because he wanted to go to the liquidation store, Bianca Amors, to pick up a couple of cheap items.  We deliberately walked down every aisle for the exercise. Hopefully it did help with the wearing off of lunch. hahaha

Then he announced that, since I had two large bags of books in the car I finished reading over the past few months, we should stop by a neighbourhood filled with community library boxes.  I was able to drop off all 25 books and brought 24 new to me editions home to keep me busy with bedtime reading for the next couple of months or more.

The sun is still shining in defiance of the Special Weather Report for another QUICK change overnight that will usher in the freezing rain and likely between 10cm and 20cm of snow by sometime on Friday when it is predicted to end and give us a nice warm weekend. Aiii yiiiii....I can't keep up with all these fast turnarounds! A high of a dry and breeze +15C today and then a high of -6C or colder tomorrow....NOOOOOO!!!  Oh well...

Another Excellent Update From Caro's Family

  On this glorious, sort of warm, sunny skies with forming white thunderhead clouds kind of day, I am delighted to have another report about Carol's progress.  Her family is thrilled and you prayer warriors have certainly made a difference to her recovery.  Here is the latest:

So far as Carol and I can tell there are no deficits or lasting injury to her brain. She is as sharp as I’ve ever known her and likely ready to get her word game streak back up and running.

Her heart tests are all showing no damage and no lingering weakness! What a relief and huge answered prayer!

Her persistent cough is also gone! I’m delighted about this one!

No news (good news) about the kidneys.

Now for the muscles. She had the weekend and today off of formal/attended physio therapy. However, as we know that doesn’t mean she took those days off. In fact she has excelled at the “homework” her PT gave on Friday and is stretching even hose goals! Also she is noting improved finger strength. Previously her fingers were not strong enough to do her routine inhaler. Today they were!!!!
She is up to the bathroom without assist (except a watchful eye from the nurse)!!! Her goal tomorrow is to be able to brush her teeth standing without leaning! Such great incredible progress.

Tuesday we hope she will be seen by Physio again and given the clearance to walk with watchful assist of family and/or friends.

She is awaiting word on rehab placement. It may be as far away as 150km. In that case she will instead look more into home health options. Especially as she is improving so quickly.

Oh how effective this groups prayers have been. 

I am hoping Carol can get into a rehab facility MUCH closer than 150km away, if her improvements continue at this rate of speed with no unexpected set backs.  So grateful her physiotherapy is helping her so much each and every day!

My husband began his day with a tummy episode threatening, partly because he fell asleep last evening without his usual small snack. He woke up too early....6:30am....because the tummy ache was threatening to hit him pretty hard.  BUT he had a small bowl of yogurt and some water, then decided to go back to bed. He slept for another nearly 90 minutes and woke up just in time to pick up his friend for a men's breakfast meeting.  He looked absolutely horrible when he left and I had a feeling he MAY arrive home in someone else's car before being gone more than a half hour, but he not only survived the meeting, he was able to stop at the wood shop afterwards and pick up his soldering gun for a small home repair he wants to do this week. Whew...he dodged a bullet again today after a kind of miserable weekend, particularly on the Saturday....yikes.  So grateful this latest round of attacks seems to be lessening and I pray he will soon be back to as full health as he ever is capable of being.

Our daughter in law must have arrived home safely last evening as we haven't heard anything yet and if she had not arrived our son would have been calling us. So happy she seems to have had a good week away.  Our son has to balance his home life, job and finalizing a couple of art works for the Esther 3 art fair in May. What a busy pair. I am guessing our daughter in law may not have had today off  from her usual full time job today, but it would be wonderful if she had the day to regroup and rest a bit.

Day two of this week's physiotherapy went as well as Day one did yesterday.  I am hoping to get Day three and four done prior to the weekend as I would really like to take two days off in a row.  Walking more correctly now is helping my full weight bearing balance exercises and vice versa.  It has been a good week thus far for small bits of progress once again.  It is most disappointing that the tendon on the operated leg will likely never fully heal due to the amount of damage it sustained previously, but as long as I can fully weight bear soon for the full required 30 seconds, I will consider myself sufficiently healed.  The "hitch in my getalong" is far less pronounced since I started rolling my foot forward properly when walking without my cane. Praise the Lord for that! 

Finally did the ironing that has been sitting draped over my husband's favourite reading chair in his little library room for the past few days.  It doesn't usually take me this long to get ironing completed after doing a day of laundry, but wow, for some reason there seemed to be so many other things to do each day that I didn't get to it until now.  Oh well....

It is a beautiful day here and I am going to enjoy every moment of the good weather before we will apparently be hit with quite a bit of freezing rain overnight tomorrow, turning to snowfall the following morning.  Sigh....SPRING, WHERE THE HECK ARE YA'???

I am hoping like ten bears my husband will be well enough tomorrow before the weather turns rotten again to come out shopping for a few items with me.  I have GOT to find some brown and navy blue socks. The usual "cheapsy" retail stores are only carrying black, white and grey socks along with some horrific patterned ones, so maybe I will just be content to pay more for the colours I want that can't be found at the places I already looked.  

Are You Also Appalled By The Cost Of Groceries??

 I just returned home from our closest "discount" grocery store with two bags, each filled about 2/3 with groceries...you know the type of bags, right? The usual regular sized cloth totes like you get at stores like Safeway?  Only two bags.....$110.43.  Only one item that I purchased, a medical item, was expensive at $22.99.  The other items were produce and some sale bread and a couple of canned items....$110.43.  Gosh....I am kind of sorry I looked at the receipt to be honest.  Are the rest of you finding it more and more demoralizing to purchase groceries?  This is the month I could have used the harmonized sales tax rebate that got all messed up by the CRA and that I am still waiting to receive.  Sigh....okay, enough whining and complaining! (for now...teehee...)

Although it is overcast with deep grey clouds that may be bringing rain overnight and into tomorrow, it isn't very chilly out and I enjoyed getting out to the post office and the store.  I didn't even take my cane in the car today because since my husband pointed out to me that part of my limping has been my own fault for not monitoring my foot placement properly,  the limp is far less pronounced and it isn't as difficult for me to cover distances.  YAY, I am so pleased.  

My husband felt well enough this morning both before and after breakfast to participate in his weekly theological and scientific discussion group after being quite certain he would have to miss it because of feeling rotten, but he didn't feel rotten.  Has the Indian food from yesterday successfully aided his recovery once again?  No headache today either, so that is wonderful.

Our son got a report from his boss today about the work he did for her in Florida last week and apparently he did well despite not having much of a clue as to what part of the job entailed.  He is like his father....he knew just enough to figure out the rest of it on his own.  I am happy for him.  His wife is now scheduled to return sometime today, so that is also very good news. She is a brave solo traveller and that gives ME forty fits. I think I have seen too many movies of young women getting in trouble driving long distances on their own...or maybe I am more stressed about the world situation in general than I realize.  Anyway, just glad she is on her way home. 

Nearly Over At Last!

 I have had a glorious morning running around town doing errands and treating myself to four new books from Indigo.  I decided that since our wedding anniversary is coming up one of these fine days and we have no plans whatsoever as to what to do to celebrate 49 years of wedded-ness, I would buy myself a handful of newbies and hang the cost.  The one I am most looking forward to reading is "Summers in Squids Tickle: A Newfoundland Odyssey" by Robert Finch.  How that relates to our anniversary is that my husband also spent a few summers in Newfoundland on volunteer work projects with a charity called Operation Beaver and being in Newfoundland provided him with some of the happiest summers of his young adult life.  To my husband:  happy upcoming anniversary!  (What we are going to do for his birthday, the day prior to the anniversary, is also anyone's guess at this point.  He has been too busy to think about either event and I am plum out of ideas after all these years together.  Perhaps if we put our heads together when he gets some time later this week we can come up with something more original than eating dinner out, hahaha.)

I am pleased that as I drove around the city doing my errands I was able to avoid driving through any puddles.  Only the heavy dirt and dust particles blowing past on the strong gales of wind coated the exterior of the car, but it still looks pretty clean and nice after its washing yesterday.  We found some streets to drive on last night when we went to care group that were puddle and pot hole free, so that also kept the car looking good by the time we arrived home.  If we can just get through the next three days of dropping temperatures and highly possible snow flurries and freezing rain, the weather will take an uptick toward spring by the weekend...lookin' good by then. YAY!

This afternoon I think I will work in a physio routine after doing a bit of ironing...hmmmm....maybe best to do the exercising before the ironing so I don't use length of ironing time as an excuse to let the physio go.  Yup...that is the best plan.  More physio tomorrow, then a day off while we have various meetings both in the morning and afternoon. Back to physio on Friday...it is all good. 

I am doing all my outside walking without my cane now that the ice is pretty well gone.  As I go along I have to watch my posture and discipline myself to stand as straight as possible instead of caving in to the weak hip tendon and muscles as doing so causes me to have quite a lean. It isn't necessary and is a lazy, bad habit I want to avoid!  There is a cane in the car at all times just in case I get too tired to hold my back straight on my own.  While the walks around the sidewalks are not usually more than a couple of blocks, at least I can also stand now as well while walking in the retail stores and waiting in line at the cashier tills.  Progress to be sure.  Now, I just have to convince my tired mind and body that I will be able to handle the other hip replacement surgery later this year....I WILL be able, I WILL be able, I WILL be able to handle it. Amen!!!   Unfortunately my "good" hip that has never been operated on, thank the Lord, is starting to ache while doing physio on the operated hip, so I know I will not be able to avoid that second hip surgery. Sigh... Well, old age happens and bodies break down....one day closer to heaven is my motto these days and I find that thought no end of comforting.

Wow....Such A Great Day, My Head Is Still Spinning!

After running an errand late this morning we decided it was finally time to start our search for a "new to us" vehicle, after waiting a good two years longer than originally planned.  We assumed it would be the usual arduous process of going from dealership to dealership, arguing about what we should get, both of us disappointed and/or in tears with the frustration of trying to find something both of us would be comfortable with in terms of ease of driving, condition of vehicle and price point.

Well, it certainly didn't turn out that way....glory to God!!  We got to the first dealership, had a marvellous salesman, experienced great customer service all around, took a car for an extensive test drive and an hour later left the dealership, bill of sale in hand, to head off to the bank and the insurance company to complete the legalities.  Unbelievable! I think we are both still in shock!  Such a thing has never happened to us before when purchasing a car of any kind.  Now we will get the handful of repairs done on our old vehicle so it will be ready to be passed on to some friends who are in desperate need of a second vehicle that is roadworthy for their summer trips to their favourite cabin at "the lake" and for doing their separate errands around town!  

The shock is starting to wear off now, but wow...what was predicted by us both to be a discouraging, frustrating, unhappy time looking at previously owned vehicles ended up netting us a car that is 8 years newer than our present vehicle, only 67,000k on it and owned by an elderly fellow who treated it so well that both exterior and interior look like brand new....I have the same sense of inner peace about purchasing this vehicle that I had when I gave away my piano:  all the expected stress and disappointment never surfaced. It was simply time and I knew it in my  heart, just like what happened today.  The car has four brand new all season tires on it, so that was a bonus!  It also has more electronic  "bells and whistles" than we have ever had, so will spend this long weekend studying the manual and trying to remember the tutorial our salesman gave us before we drove it off the lot. 

Wow....I am eternally grateful not only for today's purchase, but for the restoration of a long missing peace about any upcoming move out of this suite....when the Lord deems the time and circumstance to be right, it will happen without so much upset and worry as we had when we thought we were moving two years ago.  I am ever so thankful for the example of that peace we experienced  today.   

 

First Foray Out Without My Cane!

 Since so much snow has melted from the sidewalks and some of the parking lots around town, when we went out this afternoon I tossed my cane into the car and didn't use it at all.  The first walk was short: parked the car downtown and walked across the street into a building where there were only about fifty steps in total to walk before returning to the car.  Then we drove to the bank where I walked across the parking lot, did my banking business and walked back.  I realize that doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment, but I am thrilled that I was able to mentally let go of the dependence on the cane for a feeling of security.  Yes, I was limping very noticeably, which I don't when I carry the cane, even though I am not putting weight on the cane and sometimes even forget to put it down on the ground when my operated leg takes a step now, BUT I was brave enough to risk tripping over potholes on the street and in the lot and over broken bits of sidewalk.  Thank you Lord. The bravery to start the next phase of returning to a more normal life finally happened today.  

Next time I go out....tomorrow actually....I will once again try leaving the cane in the car, just in case I am on my feet too long or have to walk farther than is comfortable as we tour around.....are ya' ready for this.....the parking lots at a few used CAR DEALERSHIPS!!!  At long last my husband has decided he can manage to detach himself emotionally from our current vehicle...long story....and begin the search for a different, slightly newer, "new to us" vehicle.  By noon tomorrow we will be on the hunt. Don't know how long it will take us, but it is time to begin.  We want to have a different vehicle up and running properly before mid April if possible so we can pass our current vehicle on to friends who need a second vehicle so they can stop having to share one car every day and who could use one like ours to transport all their summer gear to the cabin they rent at "the lake" every summer.  There are some repairs that need to be made to the electrical system and the emergency brake before we turn it over, but it should work well for them for some time to come.  Lord willing, this plan will happen and our present vehicle will have another life to live.  Here's hoping we can find ourselves a decent used car very soon and make the switch over by early spring.  

As I assumed, lower temperatures and snow are supposed to hit us again next week. The good part of that is the fresh snow will cover what remains of the icy sea across the back lawn and perhaps I will have enough traction then to get to the car in the parking lot on my own.  Looking at highs of only -10C at that point, but it surely has been great to get out and about so often this week on this string of above zero days.

Our Kids' New Gift Giving Tradition! LOVE IT!

 Our daughter in law loves to send us flowers for Christmas and she and our son have exquisite taste in arrangements.  Gosh, what a treat to be able to look from the living room through the dining room window into the cold, icy, grey, barren "winterized" parking lot through the filter of Christmas coloured petals and leaves and a sparkling red Christmas balls.  Talk about a badly needed cheering up. Thanks so much you two...we LOVE it!!

Thank you Wascana florals for another beauty!

 

Oh so purty!!!  Merry Christmas to US!

FYI my sore leg is fine today.  I will be able to do my usual physiotherapy session with no problem.  Thanks for asking. 

Just got the list of what we are to bring to the Christmas dinner.  Apparently the turkey stuffing Dell made for this same family three years ago was quite a hit, so he is supposed to bring them once again.  I get to do some veggies, so am trying to think of something different and delicious this year that I don't normally bother with...something extra tasty.  Guess tomorrow morning we will be racing about with a few hundred other folk getting last minute items.  The mall parking lots around town yesterday were crammed with cars and people pushing loaded carts full of "stuff" for the holidays.  Yikes, so glad we didn't have to go anywhere other than one grocery store for two items that fortunately they still had in stock.  

Well the countdown to Christmas continues....kind of happy, actually totally happy that we no longer have the stress of gift buying.  You get to a point in life where it is all just too much.  We are at that point where our main focus is on the Zoom call we are supposed to have Christmas morning with our NYC family.  Praying our son will be well enough to enjoy it as he presently has that nasty respiratory infection that is flattening half of NYC. It is a virulent infection so of course our son, who catches everything respiratory, is quite ill with it.  Sigh....a bit of a prayer for him would be appreciated. Thanks..... 

Be Kind, Tender Hearted To One Another....Yup, It Still Happens!!

 Saturday was an interesting day!  We attended a one day "pop up" style art fair that a friend of mine was participating in and had a great time meeting and looking at the works of local artists in her guild. I was able to purchase a couple of our friend's small card-sized paintings for gifts.  When we were done there my husband wanted to step into the building next door to see a day long pottery display.  I SAID that I had better not go with him as I am always too tempted to purchase pottery, which I no longer need...not one single piece of any kind of pottery do I need at this point in my life when I have been downsizing my beloved ceramics in preparation for a move that WILL come eventually!  I knew I was correct in making that decision, BUT of course, as my husband was headed off to the pottery displays I found myself traipsing along, zombie-like behind him, all previous wisdom discarded like a useless paper flyer in our mailbox.  Sigh.....yes, those of you who know me well, also know darned well that I, with not so much as a flicker of hesitation, purchased a small, GORGEOUS thin porcelain dish in pale white with baby blue flowers...oh, it was SO lovely, how could I leave it behind, right? My husband sighed, but was polite enough not to say anything as he was also making a purchase of a ceramic candle holder....something we actually need!  I went to the cashier, paid for my lovely wee dish, then went to join my husband as he conversed with the creator of the candle holder, whose wife is also a ceramicist and had a collection of Christmas tree ornaments that looked like gingerbread cookies with white "icing" painted on for cookie decoration.  As the conversation wound down and we turned to leave, I got my cane tangled up in the handle of the brown paper bag carrying my precious new porcelain dish....the bag fell from the tangled mess of my cane handle and slippery mittens and landed with an ear piercing BANG/CRACK onto the cement floor.  The entire room went completely silent and the dozens of other shoppers around us gazed at me with a combination of horror and pity for an old woman who couldn't hang onto an easy to carry brown bag.  I wanted that cement floor to open up and swallow me whole, but no such luck.  I picked up the bag, knowing the shattering sound I heard tucked in behind that mighty BANG was my new porcelain dish shattering into wee pieces.  The two potters we had been talking to rushed over and picked up my bag to check if my suspicion of breakage was correct.  Of course it was and all I wanted to do was grab the remains and race out of there as quickly as possible. The entire room of people seemed to be holding their collective breath until ALL could see the shattered remains of my dish. Then they exhaled and I could hear pitying whispers flying about the room.  Various people came over to tell me what kind of product I could buy to attempt to put it back together.....God bless their caring hearts and I thanked them for it, knowing all along it wasn't possible, ergo it would never happen. Eventually I managed to extricate myself from their loving concern and make my way back outside, trying to hold back the tears of embarrassment and regret that were threatening to take over the entire front of my face.  As we walked out the door my husband wrapped his arm around me to show support for my hurt feelings and my disappointment at having wasted money I should have known better than to spend in the first place.  We were nearly back to our car in the parking lot when I heard someone calling and running after us. It was the woman potter we had been talking to when the accident occurred.  She ran up to me and presented me with one of her own beautiful tree ornaments as a gift because she felt SO badly about what had happened to me.  It wasn't even one of her works I had managed to smash to smithereens!!  It was one of the other artist's pieces!   The lovely, kind, tender hearted woman knew that despite my acting fairly cavalier about my loss I was most upset and wanted to give me a gift to ease my sad heart.  She hugged the life out of me before racing back into the warmth of the exhibition building.  I could hardly believe it.  What a sweet soul!!  I got into the car and then the tears flowed freely, but now it was because someone I had never seen in my life and will probably never see again, gave me the free gift of her own pottery and took that financial loss on my account.  When we got home I realized I had not taken a business card from her and her husband's display so I have no idea who they are or how to thank them again for their caring concern for this clumsy old gal.  There ARE still good people in this messed up world and we met two more of them on Saturday!  May God bless them in some wonderful way to thank them for their generosity!  I hope I have learned yet another lesson about actually OBEYING that "still small voice" of God when he tells me NOT to do something....sigh....you would think after all these years I wouldn't have to continue learning that same lesson over and over, wouldn't you??? Aiii yiiiii.......

Sunday morning I was pleased that my husband was feeling well enough to be excited about going to church. Often by Sunday mornings he is so exhausted he has to drag himself out to the services, but this Sunday he was keen to get going.  It was a Communion service and it was lovely, the pastor gave a very good sermon and we had some nice visits with other congregants before and after the service.  The snow was coming down and the wind was blowing it into long, winding drifts along the sidewalks and streets when we left the church and we were both hungry, so we opted to go to the new location of Fancy Fork here in the city.  Oh my, it was most lovely and since it was Sunday in the downtown, most of the street parking spots were empty, making parking no issue at all.  We were less than a half block from the entrance...perfect!  The menu items have changed somewhat since the restaurant relocated from Emerald Park, but the meals we ate were just as good as ever.  I enjoyed my Mexican breakfast bowl that was overflowing with a mixure of spicy beef, (NOT dumbed down spice-wise for Saskatchewan palates, which I so appreciated), grilled tomatoes, cubed potatoes, avocado slices and cheese.  The side plate contained bowls of a lightly spiced gravy, made in the restaurant tomato salsa and sour cream.  My husband ordered the chicken tikka naan and that naan bread was packed so full of the chicken, veggies and sauce that it wasn't possible to fold it together to eat. He ate it with his knife and fork quite happily.  The price of our lunch was most reasonable. We have eaten far less delicious meals for much higher prices, so that added to the treat of the experience at Fancy Fork.  It is nice to have a couple of places in the approximate downtown area to enjoy good meals on a Sunday afternoon.

Today has been a productive day for us both: my husband enjoyed a Zoom meeting with his retired Lutheran pastors and their guests for today: a retired scientist from the American Scientific Affiliate and a professor from Briercrest Seminary. This afternoon he was over at our friends' place where he has his little wood working shop to cut the pieces for a climbing wall being prepared for their children to enjoy in their basement.  Next will be monkey bars to install across the basement ceiling. The appropriate floor mats are already in place, so those kids are going to have a marvellous winter doing some of their favourite summer outdoor activities in the warmth of the indoors.  Now he is on his way to meet with one of our church families and their relatives to plan a funeral for one of their family members who passed away unexpectedly last week.  What an honour to be asked to do the service.  Our minister offered up our church space for the funeral to take place, even though he is not taking a big part, if any, in the service, so that is most generous of him.

I had my physio half done by 7am today.  It felt good to get an early start and I was able to complete the programme by 11am after doing a few house chores.  This afternoon, although my poor husband's plan to start today once again on our downloading project was scuttled by the other unexpected commitments, I spent that time sorting, shredding and recycling a large box of old papers my husband collected for me to deal with.  It felt SO GOOD to finally be able to do something to assist him in his rather lonely quest to go through all his parents', sister's brother in law's and his own "stuff".  It is so emotionally taxing for him and so very depressing that it is difficult for him to deal with any of it. FINALLY he realizes he needs help and I can go through and assess old documents, cards and letters, ancient bills etc., far more quickly than he can, then get them dealt with and out of here!!  So happy I finally get to help out.  It was a good afternoon.  I made chili as well this morning and it is all ready for my dinner tonight. While my husband is eating at a restaurant with the grieving family, I get first dibs this time on my own chili.  I will TRY to leave some for him, hahaha...no promises.....teehee.....

After a rather cold and somewhat snowy weekend, today was much warmer outside.  In fact we reached a high of about -4C this afternoon and it won't be very cold overnight into the morning. Unfortunately that has resulted in a freezing rain and storm warning....our first of this winter season, so we can't really complain, BUT its arrival appears to be coinciding with my doctor's appointment in the morning where I am to discuss my wonky test results with her before she departs for a month in her own country.  My husband cancelled his attendance at his weekly men's breakfast out in order to take me to the doctor so I have someone to hang onto getting to and from the car, bless his loving heart!  Mind you, I doubt he would have much fun trying to get even farther away to the restaurant where the guys usually go.  I am praying for mercy that either the ice storm will be much later arriving than predicted in order to protect not only us, but the many people commuting to work in the morning, OR, EVEN BETTER, (from my mouth to God's ear), NOT ARRIVE AT ALL!!!!  We shall see what happens in the morning..... 

A Happy Pension Day Here!!

 My husband decided this morning that he has waited long enough for a few badly needed clothing items. Since we were stuck at home for most of yesterday while I rested my injured knee, we assessed that today it could be wrapped in a tighter tensor bandage so that I could go along on his shopping expedition.  The sky was foggy and murky with clouds all day, but the temperature was most decent so away we finally went....at about 11am....okay, not an early start, but at least we got out before noon!  

First stop, Cowtown to look at the denim shirts.  After a long search through rack after wrack of western style shirts, the clerk finally located two styles of straight denim shirts with no western patterns on them AND lo and behold, buttons instead of those infernal snaps he detests.  Since the stock was so limited for plain denim, he bought two instead of just one, in two different shades of denim blue.  Yay!  He is learning to splurge on himself a bit more and not buy all his clothes at the thrift stores.  The sale prices on those shirts made him feel better about "purchasing new".  Then it was off to Mark's to look at the gloves and liners for winter wear. He found exactly what he wanted and I found some new socks to replace some old ones that I also bought at Mark's years ago and are just now wearing out.  From there it was over to Cob's bread for his favourite semolina loaf while I went into the Chatters next door to purchase a couple of giant bottles of hair product, then on to RC SuperStore for one bag of groceries and some extra "stuff" to give away at our church's Saturday morning lunch for the homeless this coming weekend.  We stopped at The Open Tap for delicious pub grub...don't let the run down interior fool you, the food is quite good! My husband had a perfectly cooked medium rare 8oz. steak with included fries, Caesar salad, garlic toast and a goodly amount of mixed vegetables for $26.95.  Quite a wonderful special today!  We stopped for a gasoline fill up at the reserve Domo station on Albert north....only $1.19 a litre, as compared to anywhere from $1.29 to $1.32 elsewhere, then finally a stop at Foster's Shoes to get my husband some badly needed winter hikers to take advantage of the opening day of their Black Friday sale. They have such well versed, excellent staff there.  Yup, it was a very expensive shopping trip, but my husband finally has a lot of items he has been in need of for quite some time.  It takes awhile for him to get around to accepting the fact that it is okay to spend money we actually  have on himself, but he surely had a wonderful time picking and choosing and trying on today.  I had so much fun helping him make decisions and watching him grinning as he walked out of the stores carrying full bags of clothing just for himself.  YAY!!  It is such a rare occurrence.  I have as much fun as he does.

Tonight we may just wait to cook the chicken breasts I thawed out for dinner....after our large lunches it seems like too much to have to eat another full meal tonight, so I think a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches and cole slaw are on the menu instead.  

Looking forward to my weekly coffee time tomorrow morning with my friend and then seeing friends in the afternoon for a chat about the Beatitudes...one of our retired pastor friends is an excellent teacher and so we are looking forward to his ideas once again on a familiar passage of scripture.  

I am going to give my knee one more day to heal and then on Friday and Saturday, hopefully, it will be healed sufficiently that I can return to my daily physiotherapy for the OTHER leg, hahaha. Honestly....I think I have now managed to injure most every other part of both legs and my rib cage since the June surgery, so I think there is nothing left to injure and I should be able to carry on quite well with my exercises for the next 6 months.

Oh, one other happy thing:  we received an invitation out for Christmas dinner this year.  We are going to check with the family of our host and hostess to find out if they sincerely do not mind our being there in the midst of their family celebration, and if that is the case we will accept the invitation with great joy!   

Cheeful Sunshiny Day Once Again!

Late last evening the rain finally stopped teeming down.  A few brief showers occurred overnight but today the clouds have been higher in the sky and glorious sunshine is currently bringing joy in the late afternoon.  The humidity of the past few days has been unbelievable.  It is incredible to have this much humidity in southern SK.  If it was southern Ontario it would be expected, but wow, it seems so strange to experience this level of humidity on the prairies.  Our basement only leaked a little bit, in both the places where my husband has put plastic tubing into the wall to drain the water into deep pans which, when full enough, drain that water through another set of narrow plastic tubes into the washing machine drain in the floor.  When I think of how much water used to flood our basement before he discovered the wonderful concrete sealant Xypex, the depth of the water, the many places it was pouring in, the number of times we had to use mop and bucket to soak up the worst of it and then cover the floor with old towels to soak up as much water as possible that was still dripping inside....several miserable years, but the Xypex has sealed up all but these two places completely.  The reason it hasn't been 100% successful in those two places is because there are old underground communication systems' lines coming through the wall from outside that can't be completely sealed off.  The Xypex has made our lives here livable for the past 6 out of 10 years.  We love Xypex!! 

The humidity has stalled the drying process of the cold water wash clothes I hung up to dry.  Usually those clothes are dry in a matter of 3 to 8 hours, depending on the thickness of waistbands and doubled over hems, but at the moment several pair of slacks I hung up at about 4pm yesterday are still not dry enough to fold...over 24 hours later.  Good grief!  It will be tomorrow now before I can put them away. 

It was nice to be at our own church this morning after going visiting last Sunday.  The other church, despite meeting several members of their very good pastoral team, wasn't a great fit for us, but we certainly enjoyed seeing something else.  My husband will miss church next Sunday and then the following Sunday we will both be absent as he is preaching out of town.   

After church we stayed for the Kick Off Sunday lunch...tasty pulled pork on fluffy buns with a tasty coleslaw.  We were among the first in line so we didn't get a lot of food as there were so many people to feed. Tasty as it was, it really didn't fill us up and then we left immediately after eating to make room for the many more people lined up for their meal.  

Off we went from there to find me a new iron. After some wild goose chases to stores whose websites claimed to have steam irons in stock, but in reality are only ordering them in to be picked up upon delivery, we ended up at WalMart, of all places to buy appliances, and I purchased a nice heavy CHI model.  It is about the same heaviness and style as my former brand of iron and about the same price, plus I was able to take it out of the box and inspect it before purchasing it.  Online ordering is the most irritating thing since my childhood catalogue shopping at the Sears Order Offices.  We shall see how the new iron stands the test of time.  

My husband was quite ravenous by the time we finally purchased the steam iron, so we went to the nearest restaurant, East Side Mario's, (a family chain restaurant similar to Olive Garden for quality of food), before he could pass out from hunger pangs.  He is slightly hypoglycemic so when he needs to eat he needs to eat NOW. He enjoyed his roasted garlic tomato soup and a small "pizza", (difficult to describe and tasty enough, but a true pizza....hmmmm...not so sure), while I ate a small Caesar salad and also had the soup with lots of grated Parmesan cheese. No "second breakfast" for us; "second lunch", it is!!  hahaha

Home to do some chores and watch another episode of Season 7 of New Tricks detective show on Kanopy.  We were disappointed at first that next 5 of the 12 seasons are not available on Kanopy, but we stopped fretting when we discovered that the four main characters that MADE the series for us started leaving the show in Season 8 and by the last two or three seasons had all been replaced by other actors.  So, we are grateful for what we have been able to get.   It has been a fun time watching this series. The British programme producers certainly do know how to make wonderful detective series.  One day we hope to stumble across the last 3 or 4 seasons of Vera. That is another series, much more serious than New Tricks, that we absolutely love.  If BritBox didn't cost so much for us to bring into our place we would likely subscribe to it. The other issue about having that station is how difficult it would be to pry ourselves away from the television!!

In a couple of days it will be time for our dental cleanings.  I don't mind that procedure so much, but my husband struggles with it. Fortunately he was able to explain to the hygienist that he becomes extremely dizzy and nauseous from the top half of the dental chair being cranked so low that he feels like he is standing on his head. Not only has she been able to lower his head far less, she has also found a wonderful neck pillow for him to use while she works on his teeth. He can leave the dental office now afterward without looking so green and pasty in the face.  Poor guy.   

My hip has thoroughly enjoyed its two days off from physiotherapy.  Tomorrow it will be time to hit those exercises once again.  Knowing I get weekends off seems to help me relax more and take my time from Monday to Friday, so my muscles aren't so tense when doing the exercises.  

Here's to a happy upcoming week! 

Spend, Spend, Spend....I LOVE IT!!

This font is called Happy Monkey.  I am using it today because I feel very happy....as if I have gotten away with some unexpected shopping fun of my own! hahaha

I had a great visit with my coffee buddy this morning. Our husbands are also becoming better and better friends, so it is ideal when all 4 people can relate and enjoy each other's company.

After lunch my husband decided we needed to complete the shopping list of outstanding items that we started purchasing yesterday.  Off we went again across the city. Most of the purchases were practical items for our household and my husband's workshop, BUT eventually we ended up at Victoria Square where I got a chance to get out of the car and walk up and down the mall....or what remains of the mall.  Oh my goodness, so many places I used to shop at there are gone.  They have been replaced by a couple of video game parlours, and a large community centre that was filled with teens making good use of the space.  I am glad I went up there to see the place, but I have little reason to ever go there again now as my usual haunts have vanished.  Victims of online shopping and rental increases?  

It was good to get out and walk after doing my physio between 7am and 8am today so I could get it done before my company arrived.  Lots more walking is going to help restore the muscles that have atrophied so badly.  

Our last stop was at a sports store where my husband purchased a new waist pack.  For some reason, in the ten years we have lived here we have never been into The Prairie Summit sports shop.  They have an amazingly large selection of athletic outerwear, backpack repair parts, etc. etc.  From now on when my husband needs such gear he will shop there first.  It is a very cool place and looks deceptively small from the outside of the building.  It carries many things that Fresh Air Experience doesn't carry and vice versa.   

While my husband was in Prairie Summit, I realized there was a Rhoda's consignment shop just down the block so away I went for a bit more walking.  In there I found, FINALLY, the perfect black purse for myself....brand new, hard sided, lots of separate spaces inside for the sorting I like to do of my carry-belongings.  I bought it and the cutest little mint green knee length pullover sweater vest that will look great over either black or white pencil pants and skinny tops.  The sweater vest has all kinds of holes in it and it is the cutest thing I have seen in a long time.  What fun I ended up having at our last pit stop!

It is hot again today of course, but we were able to open one upstairs and one downstairs window a few minutes ago, so there is a bit of fresh air exchange going on that is much appreciated.  Having an air conditioned car certainly has made our last couple of days of errand running pleasant!  

Along our route this week we came across the Domo gasoline station on the northern part of the city Reserve land and as usual the price of gasoline there was lower due to not having to pay most of the government taxes. Gasoline jumped up as much as 15 cents a litre yesterday to an average of one dollar and forty two cents a litre.  We got ours at the Rez station for one dollar and twenty two cents a litre. It was certainly worth the short line up we were in to take advantage of the price.  

Time to go and look in the fridge and cupboards to see if there is something creative I can prepare later for dinner tonight.  

It Seems I Can Walk Farther When I Have A Specific Task To Accomplish!

Today has given me a good revelation of what I am capable of now in terms of distances for walking.  I am encouraged that this will cause my weight bearing to improve soon!

I do enjoy doing my lying down exercises before I even get out of bed in the mornings.  That makes my second round of physio after breakfast easier to do. My leg becomes far less exhausted and I can do more reps of that second set of exercises now.  Still hanging on, but there has been a bit of  improvement with the weight bearing. For the standing hip abductions I can stand on my operated leg and manage to push the other leg out sideways and hold it for about 3 to 4 seconds now instead of a split second to one second....I know that doesn't sound like a huge improvement after over a week of attempting full weight bearing physio, but for me it is a true breakthrough that is encouraging me greatly.

My husband returned home from his morning medical appointment absolutely ravenous and eager to get going on our shopping before the afternoon traffic began, so off we went.  As we were driving he remembered he hadn't had any breakfast yet and the time was approaching 11:30am.  I know what that kind of "fasting" can mean for his very sensitive digestive system, so we dropped into The Cottage for his brunch.  I enjoyed another chicken Caesar salad while he scarfed down a bowl of avgolemono soup, followed by a burger and fries and the remains of MY meal. hahaha  He was so hungry.  hahaha

 

Then we went grocery shopping in a very large grocery store.  We were in there for nearly 45 minutes and I was on my feet the entire time, trucking up and down the aisles, putting minimal weight onto the grocery cart as I raced about. Compared to how slowly I have been walking lately, "racing about" it certainly was.  We parked a long way from the store in the huge parking lot, so I also had to navigate that walk both directions.  As soon as we got home I had to remain standing on my feet to rinse off and put away all the groceries. So, I was on my feet for over an hour total, apart from the five minute drive home from the store.  AND I didn't collapse in a chair the second I was done putting away the groceries!  I had some small chores to do upstairs first, so continued moving about.  I am greatly encouraged.  The problem with going for walks outside, I am realizing, is that I am kind of bored, so I am concentrating too much on how my leg is feeling. There is so little to distract me that I am giving up on the outdoor walks too quickly. 

Tomorrow afternoon my husband and I are going to go over to the large park near our house and do one of the shorter trails so we have interesting things to look at and talk about. As he is having some serious circulation issues in his legs right now as a result of spending too long each day sitting at the computer, we are going to try to walk most afternoons. When I have had enough I can turn around and go home and he can continue walking for awhile at his own, much faster pace.  Hopefully this will turn into a routine we can enjoy three or four days a week at least.

We are losing another wonderful family from our complex. She and I have been sharing prayers together for our various health conditions and surgeries...at age 39 she is YOUNG to be experiencing a deteriorating spine and is awaiting a serious surgery soon.  Yesterday we saw a U-Haul pull up to their place and they started loading up their household.  Today we had the opportunity to connect and say goodbye.  Sad for us, BUT we are very happy for them. They have been saving money to purchase their first house and that is why they are leaving here.  So excited for them and their children are thrilled as well.  Thanking the Lord we were able to see them to say goodbye.  Life as we have known it here is changing rapidly with the sudden departure of several long term neighbours in the past month.  Still praying our current neighbours on the other side of the wall decide to put in the six months of winter here before they also leave, but I suspect God's answer just may be "no".  Well, we shall see what happens next........

A Delightful Little Eretrian Store Right Here In Our City!

My husband presented a wonderful sermon this morning on the paradox of the fear of God and perfect love casting out fear.  Some of what he presented was new to some of the congregants, but he could see on their faces the workings of their brains to connect the dots and figure out what exactly he was saying. There was a great deal of positive feedback afterward so I am happy for him.  

After church we decided to have lunch at DarBar, but they hadn't quite opened yet for the day, so we walked part way up the street to the little Hiya Confectionery Store.   It has been open for awhile but we have never had reason to go in before. What fun we had in there!  The dried food items, dishes, shoes and jewellery are in the small front area, crammed in all over the place but wow....so many things to check out. I found a serving tray with bright African patterns on it for a reasonable price. Since I have been looking to replace my old Japanese serving tray with a broken handle and have had little success in finding what I want, today's find was perfect: small, light and lovely.  In the upper back area of the store are several racks packed with Eretrian style dresses and men's shirts.  The owner was quite talkative once he saw my husband's clergy collar.  He is a Roman Catholic who attends mass at two different RC churches here in the city, he attended seminary in Africa, his first residence in Canada was in Manitoba and now he has been here in Regina with his new business for the past year or so.  We are definitely going back in September to look more closely at the clothing and perhaps do some shopping there for new outfits.  What a little gem tucked away among some other types of businesses, just east of DarBar on Victoria Avenue.  He has a few bottles of cold drinks the likes we haven't seen anywhere else in town.  I had no idea that Crush had flavours like watermelon and fruit punch!  All I ever see are the orange, grape and occasionally cream soda flavours of that particular soft drink brand.  SOOOO FUN looking in a store that is new to us.  It still shocks my husband, even after being ordained for so many years now, when other people call him "Father", but he was very accepting of the moniker from this kindly store owner.

DarBar has attractive new menus, much smaller, book style and so much easier to handle than the large plasticized sheet menus they had previously.  The prices have gone up like everywhere else, finally...but only ONE  WHOLE DOLLAR per dish! hahaha  Wow....compared to other places that serve far less delicious food, they certainly could have raised their unit price more than that. God bless them for keeping prices reasonable!  I brought home a large carton of leftover coconut pepper chicken, rice and chick peas. Can barely wait for my leftovers dinner tonight! 

So, time for physio since there was no opportunity to do it prior to church today.  While it is going to take time to be able to increase how long I can put full weight on my operated leg, I was very encouraged today that as I was walking outside the house with my cane, I was able to walk almost upright without putting much weight at all on the cane....progress....I will take any little bit I can manage to get! haha Even my husband commented that I am listing to the side far less than I have been. YAY!

Looking Forward To A Bit Of Shopping!

 I need to purchase a couple of household items and I am really looking forward to shopping for them.  For too many years of my adult life neither my husband nor myself would dare to let even a breath escape that we needed some new appliance or piece of furniture because if my parents found out, within days a delivery truck would arrive at our house and the new sofa, set of pots and pans, can opener, beds and linens....you name it, would be brought to our front door.  Sigh.....  It was mostly at my dad's instigation. My mom tried for decades to convince him to back off because perhaps we would prefer to make our own choices, but he never listened.  For years we had furniture that we despised, appliances that we didn't like much and clothes neither of us wore, but Dad had a bad habit of doing these things for us without ever asking if it was okay and then expecting us to rain glory and honour upon his head for taking the initiative for purchasing all the things.  Sigh....  I think that underneath he really did mean well and he wanted to help us out, but he just didn't get it that he was badly overstepping.  (I think the year he announced that he and Mom were coming on holidays with us marked the beginning of a more healthy attitude on OUR part....we compromised and included them in our last week of 3 vacation weeks.) Most everything he bought us was on some kind of sale special so that rendered them nonreturnable and we were stuck. Oh well, beggars reallly couldn't be choosers in our case. hahaha

The first time we chose our own furniture was sometime in our late 50's, in the midst of our many moves, so we don't have anything particularly expensive or wonderful, BUT what we do have has been our own choice for the most part.  I have always found it difficult to turn down a well meaning gift when it is presented by a giver with an  eager attitude and/or grinning face, so proud of what he or she has done for us.  A good side effect of all the gifts is that I have learned to be gracious when being given something I am not really wanting or needing and that has been good for me.  It is something I needed to learn, that's for sure.

Anyway, all that to say I am very excited to be going frying pan and iron shopping later this week!  I love my PC non-stick, ceramic coated frying pan, but the finish got ruined recently when I accidentally put too high a heat under it, wandered off and scorched a couple of chicken breasts.  It took the top finish off so now it isn't as non-stick as it is supposed to be and I am not sure it is safe to use that way.  My iron's steamer unit has given up the ghost. No amount of cleaning the steam vents has restored its ability, and they weren't blocked with minerals anyway when they stopped working because I am obsessive about cleaning iron steam vents,  so it is time to go searching for a new one. I am very excited about searching for a new iron because there are many excellent brands available these days and I have been doing my research.   

Nothing to make me feel like life is returning to normal again like shopping for household goods!! Yeah, you betcha'!!

A Perfect Saturday Pour Moi!!

 Saturdays tend to be a total MEH day for me.  We rarely go out anywhere, my husband is usually busy writing sermons or articles and he doesn't enjoy the Saturday crowds any more than I do. Saturdays for most of my adult life have been less than exciting unless we happen to be on holidays! hahaha

Today was lovely.  It is quite a hot day, but we got going in the late morning to run our errands. First off was delivering all the books I have read lately to various community library boxes.  The first box we went to is one that we noticed outside the Air BnB our son and his wife stayed at when they were here in June, only a few blocks away from our house.  We were most fortunate as the box was almost empty and it held every single book in my "deposit" bag!  YES!  That saved us a ton of driving around the city looking for other boxes.

From there we drove to the three public libraries we didn't get to the day my husband took me out pre-op to get books from each branch that has pop up book sales.  Two of today's remaining three branches have such sales BUT I was very proud of myself.  I only came away with four new to me books to add to my stack waiting at home to be read from the first round of pop up book shopping. It was such fun to see the various branches, how different in size and configuration and in types and number of books on their shelves.  

After that we decided we were close enough to the Coop grocery in the north end of the city to pick up a half dozen items there that we can't get at our stores closer to home.  Wow....over two hundred dollars later we came away with more than 2/3 of our total list purchased and bagged to bring home. The sale prices on so many things that were on my list for another store were amazing, so we cashed in.  The things we weren't able to get can wait until next week as it turns out, so we felt quite successful in our shopping today.

We just happened to be very close to the Tamarind Indian restaurant after we left the Coop, so we stopped in for a light lunch.  The food we ordered was much tastier than I remember our meals being the last time we were there.....ooh, quite awhile ago now.  We ordered a couple of dishes we have never tried before:  Chicken Mughulai and Chicken Mappas, along with our favourite Jeera rice and a roti.  The gravies had more depth of flavour this time, or perhaps last time we simply didn't order a high enough spice level to notice any real depth.  Definitely we will return there and try some of the other dishes we haven't had before and that are not featured on the menus of any of the other Indian restaurants we frequent.  The portions were so generous that we have as much food in our fridge in the form of leftovers as we were able to stuff down at lunchtime!  

I put the groceries away when we got home and I have been marvelling since I sat down a couple of minutes ago at the way I was able to manage walking all around the large Coop store, the three libraries and my kitchen as I wiped off and put all the groceries away.  I will only do my physiotherapy once today, likely right after dinner tonight, to give my muscles and chance to relax after all that walking around. The amount of weight I was putting on my cane and on the handle of the grocery cart was minimal, so that is a huge weight bearing advance for me.  Hallelujah!  I have also noticed I am starting to walk more erectly and less like a listing ship when I am not using a support aid.  

Hope the rest of you are also having a very good day.  I know that going to a few libraries, a grocery store and lunch out is hardly worthy of generating huge excitement, but for me it was an absolutely wonderful break away from the same old, same old.