Late Night Kid Noise But No Early Morning Goose Wars! Yay!

 After a long and busy day that included a cup of deliciously strong tea which kept me awake late into the evening, I was very pleased that the Goosey Turf Wars from that morning seem to have ended….for now. The weekend event in the park where most of those geese normally reside, that drove them over here for the weekend, ended sometime close to dinnertime last evening so by bedtime all the geese had returned home. This morning we have only our usual five regulars who do very little squawking. Whew!

Our little troupe of middle eastern kids who play outside often even on school nights until midnight or later was at it again last night after a blessed two night reprieve. Last night I didn’t care at all because the tea had ME bouncing off the walls until nearly 1 am….the same time the kids finally went silent….a nice dovetailing that gave me a good start on staying asleep for the night. 

I am grateful! I feel almost awake this morning! Yay!

Goose Wars At 5am….Sigh…..

It was a short night around here sleep-wise. At 5am the latest territorial goose wars erupted on the front lawn immediately below my bedroom window.  An hour and 45 minutes later the war rages on. Apparently across the entire two block long unbroken expanse of fresh green grass at our complex nowhere is as green and fresh and desirable as the patch right here, ten feet below my sleeping quarters. Aaaaargh! Oh the incessant honking, the screeching, the beating wings, the chasing, the nipping….one couple is not even physically involved in the war between the two couples vying for the below my window greenery. They are standing on the sidewalk across the street, four lanes of traffic away, hooting and hollering like banshees while the four combatants under my window chase each other around on the lawn. Big sigh….. My husband is sound asleep in his cool basement hideaway where the goose war cacophony does not penetrate the thick concrete walls. Lucky guy….. I am not sure how well I am going to stay awake to fully enjoy our day out of the city after only five hours of sleep. The motorcycle racers and muffler deficient stunt drivers that enjoy utilizing the wide streets around us didn’t quiet down until around midnight. 

My alarm is set for 40 minutes from now. The geese have finally ceased their squawking. I am sleepy. If I fall asleep for such a short time how groggy and miserable am I going to feel when I wake up? Hahaha…what a crazy start to the day….AND what is this I hear? Apparently the time out is over for the geese. Here they go again….aiiii yiiiiii……at least that answers my question about going back to sleep. 

Me Do It Myself!!

Do you remember saying that as a kid when your mom went to zip up your winter parka or tie your shoes and you wanted to do it on your own at last?  Or maybe you went through this scenario with your own toddlers as they were growing up.  

Well, this morning after my husband left for a day of meetings I got online and went back to attempting to solve our banking and credit card issues from yesterday. After a lot of frustration and fiddling about I FINALLY figured out what to do to solve the problem!!  I can now access my card information and my balances, payments and statements just like everyone else who does such things online!!  There were no interruptions of the kind that happen when my husband and I try to figure out website access protocols together. We continually interrupt each other with not helpful questions and distract each other constantly. So this morning I decided to get some self-confidence going for the first time in a few years and solve the issues if I could.  Thanking God that I actually did!  He may just be restoring me to a higher level of confidence that has been missing for a long time.

Over the past couple of decades I have lost so much confidence in my own abilities that I am afraid to even try to solve anything like computer access issues on my own.  I have become so terrified of making a mistake that I don't even try to do things like that by myself any more. Ridiculous? Yes!  Has my husband been the one to make me feel the overwhelming lack of confidence?  Not remotely. He has done nothing but encourage me to figure things out on my own, to have some faith that my brain hasn't completely atrophied at this point, to try to get back to who I "used to be" twenty years or more ago when I was living on my own and raising a child on my own so much of the time because my husband was working out of town or even out of the country.  A few things happened in the meantime to strip me of my confidence, but I am finding lately that there is a need for me to try to restore it.  I need to stop being afraid of making a mistake, particularly with the computer, and get moving forward. 

I have learned much about the necessity of being more confident in my own ability to figure things out from my friend Nan. Since her husband Cee passed away on the way to two years ago she has been forced to figure out all manner of things on her own that she never thought possible she could do without help. She has had to solve one frustrating and/or frightening issue after another in recent months and she is developing problem solving skills, finding solutions to issues like she never thought would be possible by herself.  Nan has become my "heroine" of problem solving for the sometimes seemingly hopeless issues that have come along in her life.   So, I would like to thank Nan for all she has been teaching me, without even knowing she has, about relying less on my husband for problem solving and getting off my duff to figure out a few things on my own.  It feels good!

AND after a few more house chores before lunch I am going over to see a good friend for the afternoon...coffee and visiting....in an air conditioned house on this VERY HOT day.  YAY! 

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......

C'est Pour Ma Famille: Final Weather Report!

This morning we woke up to a skiff of icy snow on the lawn and just a bit more of a buildup on car hoods and windshields.  By 8am it was +1C and the frozen slush was pretty much melted on the streets and our back deck and steps.  Whew!  The highways here are reported to be either bare and wet or bare and dry.  Thankfully we got very little moisture much worse than heavy rain.  Tonight we drop back to -2C overnight, but then tomorrow begins a lovely warming trend for the most part with highs in the low to mid +20'sC.  Yippee!!!  Thus endeth the weather reporting of our miserable pseudo spring. Thank you family and out of province/country friends who are as fascinated by weather as I am.  For the rest of you, yes, barring some unexpected weather disaster, I am done with the daily and twice daily weather reports. (Heave sigh of relief here.)

The plan for this morning, while my husband was attending his weekly Zoom theology meeting, was to clean the kitchen thoroughly. It is in dire need of doing.  However, I slept very poorly last night because I couldn't shut my mind off. I gave up trying to sleep after an hour of tossing and turning, started reading and fell asleep about an hour later, but I only regained the two hours I lost, nothing more.  I feel like a punctured balloon again today, so it will be this afternoon before I get started on any sort of proper cleaning binge.  Yawn.....  With everywhere I need to call for information and appointment making being closed today for the holiday, I will have to roll that into tomorrow morning so we can get to medical appointments in the afternoon.  SO....more cleaning the day after that?  All these little details of varying importance are tiring me out after a run of poor sleeps over the past week or so.  I suspect part of the exhaustion is releasing the underlying stress over my husband's latest CFS issues now that he is improving so well and so quickly.  I am grateful for his return to health.

Maybe I will just go and have a little nap before lunch...... 

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.

 

Well Yes, We Have Been Praying For Rain So….

 ….we are grateful so much rain is forecast starting tonight, just not sure 20-40mm in such a short time span will not create a whole new set of problems. Saturday looks rain free at the moment, but then more rain may arrive. Apart from turning us into Mosquito Central due to the likelihood of large puddles of standing water, the moisture will be a good thing.  

It has been such a pleasant week thus far. Last evening outside with the kids was warm, barely a breeze, sun until well after 8pm, that magic if brief time between winter snow and the onset of mosquitoes and spiders. 

Now, if I could just stop waking up at 🕓 4am. I am stuck temporarily in this sleep cycle of falling asleep for four or five hours, then being awake for about two hours, followed by a couple of hours or more of “dead to the world” sleep. After a few days of this I will probably hit the second part of the cycle: asleep between 11pm and midnight, sleeping for 6-8 hours without stirring. I LIKE that part of my sleep cycle! 

This morning I have been praying to get my act together in advance of my husband’s upcoming trip and get some plans of my own made instead of molding along until the man is already out the door with no plans for myself. It would be so easy to sit around inside getting bored, not wanting to intrude into the busy lives of the people I know here. Trying, trying to think ahead this time!

Maintenance Physio Only

 I have decided it is time to drop my daily physio exercising and begin twice a week maintenance physio. There has been zero improvement in two of the range of motion exercises in over a month now, so I have accepted that the tendon is too damaged to fully heal and get on with living my life. In the past three days I have walked longer distances without my cane and am seeing improvement with my walking gait, so I am replacing the constant physiotherapy exercises with paying closer attention to foot placement and stance. This change of routine is giving me great peace and a bonus is that the soreness from the three previously ruptured tendons is abating due to not being exacerbated by the constant exercise. So, after nearly 11 months of workouts, what will be will be. Life is good.

My first board meeting for the non-profit went well last night: good, caring, intelligent, informed people. It was a positive experience. 

We received some much needed rain last evening and there are more showers forecast in the coming days. What a relief, but we need SO much moisture to start edging away from drought conditions. 

We ran a bunch of errands yesterday morning and found ourselves near a favourite pub at lunchtime, a pub that has coupons in our recently purchased coupon book from Mohammad as part of his school’s fundraiser. The saving from that coupon alone was half the cost of the coupon book. Another meal there on a second coupon and we will have been repaid full cost, yay! 

We are still sorting out details for the New York trip later this summer. Still waiting to hear from the bank employee who messed up our American credit card purchase limit. If we don’t hear anything today we will have to contact her tomorrow I suppose. No expectations of any resolve in our favour. Sigh. 

As my husband’s health continues to improve once again, the sense of dread I have been nursing in my subconscious is beginning to lift. This afternoon he and his buddy will be discussing the details of their mountain hiking trip in June. Now that he feels almost himself again he is becoming more excited about the trip. Looks as if it is actually going to happen now. Yay! He has booked the use of our former Honda CRV for the trip so I will have our car while he is away. So grateful as that has rarely been the case while he has been enjoying hiking and canoeing over the past few years. 

I am looking forward to achieving a few household chores this morning, depending on interruptions. Last week was ludicrous: I had a tight schedule created for myself to get these chores underway and hopefully completed in two days. So, guess which two days I was inundated with unexpected calls from friends needing a shoulder, prayers, advice, comfort? You guessed it…hahaha…figures. So often that is the pattern around here. It is hilarious how many times it happens. I am though, so very grateful to be retired and therefore more often than not available to talk and pray with dear friends. It is a privilege. The work will always be there waiting to be done and for me life is about people. Most of these same people have been there for me as well when I have needed a shoulder, prayers, advice and comfort. 

I think I will get up and eat breakfast this morning a little earlier than usual. I really do have to get this work done around here.

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..... 

Hmmmmm....Quite A Surprise!

Well, things sometimes do not turn out as planned!  I just got off the phone with my surgeon's office after calling to set up my one year check up on the hip revision arthroscopy, only to be informed that he has been out on sick leave since December and is not expected back at work until late September!!  Wha??? That poor man. It has to be something serious and since he turns 65 this year I am guessing he MAY not return at all.  So, the second week of June I will be seeing a surgeon from a nearby town who is filling in "VERY part time" in his absence.  The main impact that has for me is for what is going to happen in terms of replacing the second hip which is now starting to bother me when doing physio for the operated hip.  In my head I have been planning for an October surgery, but no way is that going to happen now.  My head is spinning because I am wondering what this is going to mean in the long run, the bigger picture. Does this mean we are now free to actively pursue a move once again as soon as we return from our NYC vacation in the late summer since surgery and recovery will now be seriously delayed?  

Oh dear God, what are you up to?  (How is this going to work out not only for me but for all the other surgical candidates here who will end up waiting even longer than planned for surgeries far more needed than my own second surgery?)  How is God going to spin this in my and my husband's lives?  WOW....there may be some incredible possibilities far beyond what we could ever ask or imagine!  PLUS it takes the stress off as to when and how we plan our upcoming trip south.  Apparently I am not going to have to rush back here for an October surgery.  Does it mean we are going to get a chance to move sooner than we were thinking since I won't be hanging around for a surgery and recovery?  Maybe the delay won't turn out to mean much at all apart from more pain than I wanted in the other hip while I am waiting for the second surgery. Who knows?  Oh...wait I know who knows: GOD knows.  For some reason I feel like a heavy burden has just lifted off my shoulders...how weird is that, right? hahaha  

Ya' gotta love life's unexpected twists and turns!  

We Are Sorry Local Friends And Family If It Does Indeed Rain Tonight! Our Bad.......

 My husband washed the car yesterday when he had a sudden burst of energy late in the morning. Sigh....so OF COURSE our 30% chance of rain tonight appears to be turning into a 100% certainty. Dang it...he did such a marvellous job washing the outside and painstakingly detailing the inside.  It wore him right out so after lunch he slept for 6 hours. Good old CFS, but at least he had the joy of knowing he accomplished something between naps yesterday. Oh gosh, it was fun for me to drive it to church this morning. It looked great.  He can be proud of the work he did on it.

Church went well today.  Our adult class was led by the associate minister and she went through many Scriptures in the Bible that talk about peace and how deeply meaningful the word Shalom actually is.  My husband stayed home to sleep but woke up just in time to take in the class on Zoom. YAY!  He accidentally activated his translator, so the words being spoken appeared at the bottom of the computer screen. hahaha  There were some real lulus, thanks in part to a bit of fuzz coming through the mic being used in the classroom. When the minister told us that we cannot force peace upon other people the words that appeared onscreen were, "We cannot force pizza upon other people." hahaha That one was a true gem of a mistake. Love it.

In the sermon the minister told us how much it bothers him when people, himself included, use the word "Just" so much in spontaneous prayers.  So often we say things like "If you could Just heal so and so....", or "If you could Just make this or that happen....".  To our minister it sounds like God's own children think they are bothering him or are afraid of being presumptuous with their requests; either that or trying to manipulate the Lord by sounding insincerely humble.  One of the examples he gave of how much God wants us to interact with him, how we are not bothering him, was how Jesus, when John the Baptist was beheaded and he was grieving, still issued the invitation to his followers to come to be with him.  He didn't just walk away to grieve alone for some long period of time.  Out of that time frame came the miracle of the loaves and fishes.  I have some thinking to do about my own prayer life.  I couldn't resist after that sermon: when I went forward during the communion to receive the elements from the minister I whispered, "I Just thank you for these elements." hahaha  He nearly lost it right then and there, trying to keep a straight face while his shoulders were heaving with laughter. Bad me....teehee.

A friend and I went out to DarBar for yummy lunch after church.  We had a deeply personal talk, one of those types of conversations I rarely have a chance to participate in because of course it isn't always appropriate with everyone a person knows. It was very meaningful and I think we were able to help each other at least a little bit with some personal issues we both struggle with.  It was an unexpected and incredible blessing. 

I came home to find my husband having a much better day today.  He woke up at 5am but realized he didn't need to eat or drink anything and went back to sleep until just before 8am.  By 8:45am he was back asleep, but he slept less than 45 minutes and has been awake ever since.  Yes, he is very tired and that exhaustion is going to take at least a couple of weeks to be back under control if things go the way they usually go for him with this miserable disease, but to see his face a normal colour after five or six weeks of ashy grey is most encouraging.  The graph line rarely goes in a straight line during recovery from such a heavy and long episode of CFS symptoms, but even one or two days of improvement in a row usually signals that he is starting to recover to some extent.  I am encouraged AND still praying constantly for relief for him.

Tomorrow morning I have to call my surgeon to set up my one year checkup in June.  Oh how I pray that the surgeon won't be too terribly shocked and disappointed that I am still limping around, still trying to strengthen the muscles in my thigh. I think at this point I have to accept the fact that the tendon is too damaged to fully recover, but I am okay with that. Them's the breaks kid.  (Or, should I say the RESULT of the breaks? hahaha)   

It is going to be a busy week, just the kind I enjoy most and I am grateful for that!   

Moving Slowly But Steadily Through The Day!

 I don't enjoy Saturdays very much.  Most of our younger friends are working all week long and have family and chore commitments of course that are confined to the weekends.  There are lots of things we could be doing to entertain ourselves, even around home, but it seems that on Saturdays we both lose all ability for creative thought and all motivation to take action.  Why it has always been that way I have no idea, but today was still a good Saturday, for me at least.

My husband had full blown CFS exhaustion ALL day, but still managed to remain awake long enough to run an errand across town in the very late morning. He also pulled out enough energy to take the car to the car wash and do a thorough cleaning before he came home.  About the time we thought we would be having lunch, he decided on a certain sandwich filling he was desperate to have, so we walked over to the grocery store and back. I am pleased to say that I only used my cane for part of the distance, hanging it over my arm when not in use. (Sadly, as we entered the lot at the store, we encountered a middle aged fellow in the throes of a reaction to Fentanyl or Oxycontin. He was shaking and jigging about in his own little world, absolutely tormented about whatever it was he was seeing in his mind. He had a lilac terry towel bathrobe pulled over his ragged jeans, lumber jack shirt and torn hoodie.  When we came out of the store he was lying on the ground not far from where we had encountered him, either unconscious or dead from an overdose, with the store security agent hovering over him while calling for an ambulance.  It was like a mini picture of riding the bus up and down north Main Street in Vancouver....a tiny microcosm of the despair that permeates that part of our otherwise favourite city.  To see someone suffering that kind of distress 4 blocks from our home just made me tear up and pray that somehow there will one day be an answer for these dear people who are so lost in their addictions, to the point of death far too often.)

As soon as we finished our lunch my husband had another sleep for about 4 hours, stumbled downstairs still in a fog, decided he would wake up more easily in the cool of the basement, went down and promptly fell asleep on an old bed we have stored there.  He slept for another two hours, got up and ate dinner in front of the tv and is now dozing in the recliner in the living room.  Sigh....this episode of CFS is going to be prolonged I'm afraid. It could take a couple of months to get past this, which will ruin his plans for mountain hiking next month. Oh how hard I am praying he will be well enough to go by then as it would encourage him so much. He needs that desperately right now as he is so upset this miserable disease has stopped him in his tracks once again.  Poor guy....

My own day went well, aside from being very concerned about my husband and feeling so sad about our parking lot friend.  Although it took me all day to accomplish my personal checklist of tasks for today, by the time I was ready for dinner at 6pm I managed to get my household chores done, plus two sessions of physiotherapy, the walk of course and a short nap of my own in the late afternoon.  Normally I would have been able to do everything on my list in about three hours worth of time this morning, but when my husband is suffering with CFS sleep symptoms I have to slow myself down to keep from becoming impatient about having to work around someone who shouldn't be awakened by noise or excess activity around him when he is sleeping so soundly.  Hours later than it would have normally taken me, all my tasks were completed! YAY!

The weather today has been just great.  By 10am I had all the windows open to let the breeze take the staleness out of the suite.  The sun shone brightly and although there were the usual prairie wind gusts for a lot of the day, it was most pleasant being outside for our walk to the store. Tonight I stood out on the back porch for a half hour after dinner and enjoyed watching a neighbour on the other side of the parking lot teaching our two youngest Syrian boy neighbours how to safely approach and pet his rather large puppy, how to hold their hands when giving the puppy treats and how to stay calm in the puppy's presence.  He took so much time with them.  It was very sweet to watch. The little boys responded well and the puppy now has two new friends.  

Not much of a day perhaps for most of you, but when CFS symptoms enter our home, everything has to slow to a crawl so that my husband can cope.  Plans have to be cancelled often at the last minute, hopes of going here and there put on hold sometimes for weeks at a time, chores have to be juggled around attacks of sleepiness.  This has been going on for the past 40 years now, with some blessedly long breaks between serious attacks, so since my husband has done remarkably well for the most part over the past five years, I can't really complain that this chronic condition has once again raised its ugly head.

Not sure if I will be on my own going to church tomorrow or if I will need to remain at home on Zoom in order to ferry food and drink to my husband if he isn't able to get out of bed, or if he will wake up feeling wonderful and be able to come with me to the service....there certainly are such surprisingly good days now and then even in the midst of the worst episodes.

The friend I spent yesterday afternoon with called me today to say how much she enjoyed herself visiting together. She also let me know her husband was on the way home from his out of province medical appointment and as I look at the time right now I am guessing he has been home for a couple of hours.   So I can relax now knowing she is not alone any more and will be okay.

The good weather is supposed to last for a few more days before cooling down to more seasonal temperatures, but those are good temps too. NO complaints! 

We shall see what tomorrow brings around here....... 

When A Situation Reaches Ludicrous Speed, All You Can Do Is Laugh, Right? Of Course Right!

In my husband's attempts to straighten out a mistake one of our banks made on already submitted information to the CRA, he had to wait nearly 3 weeks to get a phone call appointment with our financial advisor and that call appointment was this morning. hahahaha  I HAVE to start laughing right away to deal with the craziness.  Well, news flash: he discovered that our financial advisor there is no longer our financial advisor, nor  financial advisor to anyone else. He has been removed from the role and has been demoted. SO he told my husband that for the past few months we have actually had a new financial advisor and her name is......!  He has left a message for her to call my husband, but there is no guarantee he will hear from her before Thursday, the absolutely last day that taxes can be submitted.  hahahaha  This is not the first time this has happened to us at this bank and is one of the reasons I pulled all my own RRIF's, TSFA's and what have you out of there a couple of years ago.  I guess if my husband doesn't hear from the new FA by late this afternoon he is just going to have to go ahead and muddle along with the CRA info he has, incorrect or not, and get things submitted on time. hahahahaha 

In other news: I have been waiting for a text from our dental office regarding paying the amount for my crown that is not covered by our dental plan.  I have been waiting for a few weeks now.  I did get a notice last week as to how much the insurance company was going to contribute to the cost of the crown, but what I didn't know until this morning is that they, instead of sending that amount directly to the dental office....direct billing is what we have always done there....they deposited the amount covered into MY bank account the other day.  Hahahahahahaha again, right? hahahahaha.....  So, I called the dental office and spoke to the employee there who has to deal with these crazy dental plan folk and she was so grateful that I let her know!!  She said this is not the first time this particular company has pulled that stunt, and if I had not called her it would have taken several weeks to several months for her to be calling them more than a few times trying to straighten it out before the dental office received their payment.  Usually the clients don't bother to call, assuming the dental office and the insurance company have worked this out themselves.  HAH!  I however have dealt with this insurance company for many years and am on to a lot of their tricks, so I knew I had to call the dental office. Thank goodness.  My crown is now paid for, the dental office has been paid, the insurance company is not going to be hounded for weeks by calls from the dental office and everyone is more or less happy at this point. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah....sigh.

Good news: the pensions came in on time today so our rent is paid.  As far as today's news, that's about as good as it gets folks! hahaha....

MORE GOOD NEWS:  I am really enjoying doing physio steadily now, 6 days a week, but only half of the full roster of exercises each time.  If I can get each session done in the mornings I am no longer too exhausted to do other housework and shopping and go for walks in the afternoons. I am also not as tempted to "cheat" on how I am doing each exercise, so each rep is getting more attention to detail. As I have had more healing of late I am free to make that adjustment, yay!

The weather is warming up now and that is also good news.  I was able to walk over to the office to pay rent this morning with just a light sweater on over my shirt. The sun is shining today, more of the latest snowfall has melted, leaving only a few small piles of snow in the more shaded areas around our deck and under the trees in the park across the street.  Maybe, just maybe Spring is finally in the beginning stages of its arrival.  Dare we hope??? 

Looks like my coffee buddy and I will be able to get together this week after having to miss last week's chit chat once again due to weather issues.  At the end of the week I am going to spend a full afternoon with another friend with disabilities who is filling up her time friends during her couple of days alone while her husband has to be out of town.  It is always a fun time as we have so much to talk about and we enjoy sharing a coffee, snack, books and magazines when we get together.  Looking forward to these small social events this week...nice to have some celebrations after taxes are done.  My husband may be up to going out for chicken dinner once he has that stress over and done with.  He has been a bit better once again the past two days, needing only some carbonated water to settle his stomach between 5am and 6am instead of also needing a snack.  Then he can last until about 8am to have his breakfast.  Slowly he is improving, but we still haven't figured out what the dietary culprit is this time.  It may take weeks yet, but we will continue to write his food journal each day, and also research and experiment with his diet.  There is always some particular food that he can no longer tolerate, it is just a matter if figuring out what it is and sometimes, even with the diet diary, it is very difficult to pin down.  Onward and upward and we will continue seeking.

Had a really nice chat with our son yesterday.  He was getting ready for the annual fundraising gala last night that his wife organizes for her theatre company. It is a huge affair and this is only her second or third year of being in charge of all the details, but apparently it went well according to a text she sent me this morning.  Thrilled for her.  Our son had a studio visit the other night with the organizer of the Esther III art fair he has some works in next month. Fortunately she liked what she saw, so he is preparing to ship the works to the venue in the next few days.  Our "kids" are having their first year wedding anniversary later this week and have happy plans for a special dinner out.  They are prepared now to nail down a date toward the end of the summer/early autumn to rent the venue they want for this very much delayed celebration.  We get such a mental boost hearing about their busy and generally happy lives.

Well, time for lunch.  I was up so early this morning that I am going to be eating before noon today and that will leave me free to grocery shop this afternoon if I feel like it.   Aaaah, a joy of retirement: setting my own shopping schedules up each week! hahaha

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. 

So, Guess What My Lunch Appetizer Was Today: A Temporary Crown!

 What a great morning!  I got to sleep in a bit, the sun was shining brightly, so even though the temperature outside was a chilly -18C, I felt pretty darned good.

My husband drove me to the dentist for 11am so that my dentist could take a look at the broken tooth and we could set up a date for a possible new crown.  After the photos and x-rays of the tooth were taken by  a most wonderfully fast and efficient hygienist, the dentist came in and asked me if I wanted her to just coat the whole mess in filling. I asked her for her assessment as to whether or not I should apply for a crown right away or wait for a few months and she advised me that the next step would definitely be a crown, but if that wasn't a possibility for insurance coverage she could try filling it and it could last for a few months that way.  I decided not to bother with the extra work and cost and time required to fill a break that would require a crown soon anyway, plus as I thought about it I realized that with the extra appointment today we have used up most of our annual dental coverage this year anyway, so I decided to just make an appointment to start on a new crown as soon as possible.  

As I suspected would happen, my dentist looked at her watch, checked the time the hygienist was to get off work for the morning and asked me if we could do the crown prep at that moment!  Yup, you betcha. What a relief not to have to nurse that broken tooth for the next two to three weeks until an appointment with my own dentist would become available.  An hour and ten minutes after I sat down in the dental chair I was on my way out again with a nicely fitted temporary crown in place.  YAY!!!!  I wasn't able to get an appointment for the next over two weeks, but was told that if there is a cancellation sometime prior to that date they will call and offer the time to me.  YAY~~what a great start to my day.

My husband patiently waited in the car out in the dentist office parking lot while I was having the work done. He enjoyed reading his book, listening to the radio and dozing in the warm sun coming in his driver side window.  The temperature outside began a fast climb into the near 0 degree range while he sat there, so he had a very nice time away from the phones at home.  He realized though that he had not eaten any breakfast of note so by the time I left the office it was just after noon and his tummy was starting to bother him considerably.  When he has tummy troubles he gets kind of picky about what he wants to eat so that he doesn't exacerbate the issue and he was craving Indian food.  My dentist is not that far from DarBar....it is on the same avenue in fact, so that is where we stopped for lunch.  Despite my frozen mouth I managed to eat about half of my lunch plate without dribbling food or gravy down my shirt front. hahaha  It's a miracle!!!!  hahaha  The rest of my meal is tucked away in our refrigerator for tonight's dinner or tomorrow's lunch.  We decided to call it an extra anniversary treat.  

This afternoon after I rest for another hour I am going to make a large batch of spaghetti sauce.  I have a couple of green peppers that are not in prime condition and some onions I want to use up so I can justify taking advantage of a sale on white onions at my neighbourhood grocery store. We have a few more garlic buds than we are going to be able to use up on other things in a reasonable amount of time, so this will be a nicely garlicky sauce.  I will cook up a carton's worth of spaghetti noodles as well because I have some senior friends with a need for some simple home cooking.  It is always fun to share meals with them.  

I have no further updates about Carol as yet, so we can only assume she continues to be sufficiently stable until or unless we hear otherwise.  Our whole church continues to be in shock at what has happened to this until recently healthy, Spain's Camino de Santiago Trail walker, long distance cyclist into her 70's...... I cannot imagine what her husband and children are going through right now....lots of prayers accompany her along her journey, that's for sure.

So, lovely people, if you get any kind of respiratory infection and it seems to be headed into your lungs, even a little bit, get medical assistance immediately!!!  This particular infection that is going around, at least on the prairies, is deadly and too many people have been dying from it since the new year began.  I had no idea how many until I got looking at news articles online....well over 100 people just in Alberta and Saskatchewan have died from this particular type of pneumonia because Sepsis sets in so quickly.  Scary stuff.... so GO TO THE DOCTOR IF YOU GET A BAD COLD THAT SEEMS TO BE HEADING SOUTHBOUND INTO YOUR LUNGS!! 

More Small Improvements With Physiotherapy! YAY!

Just so the prayer warriors know, I have no more major updates on Carol at the moment, but her vital signs were stabilizing yesterday and she is fully rehydrated, but was still on full life support at last update yesterday afternoon.  By last night all her children arrived from across the Canada and the USA, so our hope is that their presence will somehow be helpful to her in possibly regaining consciousness.  So grateful that God hears our prayers. We are not helpless to help Carol because we can petition our heavenly father on her behalf. Whatever the outcome we know her husband and children have strong faith and will accept courage from the Lord as they face this painful family trial.

My morning exercises have been bringing some level of encouragement to me as I slog along doing my physiotherapy.  Over the past week I have finally reached the stage of being able to fully weight bear for up to 13 seconds, multiple times per session, on the operated hip.  Almost half way to my goal of 30 consecutive seconds without having to grab a chair for support.  I still have over two months to reach the goal before I see the surgeon. The other bit of encouragement is that when I do my lying side abductions, this week instead of feeling each separate muscle group in my hip and upper leg area contracting to support the lifted leg, they have started tightening cohesively as one unit to give me the strength to hold the leg up the required five seconds and getting more control of lowering my leg back down without it crashing as soon as it gets up in the air.  This morning when my husband did the assisted abductions, where he lifts that leg higher than I can on my own, counts to five and releases it, for the first two of ten lifts I was able to hold it up in the air for the full five seconds before lowering it under my own power.  The other 8 lifts resulted in my leg crashing back down with no control, but that is okay. Until this morning I couldn't hold it up there for even one repetition!!  So, little by little, the discipline is paying off.  This has been one of the most encouraging mornings of physio in some weeks.  Stage one done, now it is time to get ready for our afternoon Bible study, after which I will complete stage two of my routine.  Thanks again to those of you who have indicated you have been praying for my recovery this past 10 months.  Bless your hearts....I am getting there. Don't give up on me....I refuse to give up on myself at this point, although it would be so very easy to just pack it in and tell myself to forget it, it is too much work for too slow a return.  God is helping me to overcome that temptation. Hallelujah!  Thanks for your help and encouragement everyone.

One New Toothy On The Way!

Lunch was an interesting meal today:  on my last mouthful of food a tooth broke!  haha Thank goodness I felt that hard piece of tooth in my mouth before I either swallowed it or crunched down on it and broke other teeth!!  Thank you Lord!

It is a tooth that has been threatening to crumble for the past two years, rebuilt by a previous dentist several decades ago, the second last of my old amalgam fillings.  I don't think there are any pins in this one to hold it together as it isn't a molar and if there were any pins in it they would be obvious right now. Fortunately it isn't painful and likely won't be if I am careful to only eat soft foods for the next couple of days until I see the dentist. Thrilled I can be squeezed in this week with my own dentist!! She is working on limited hours each week since becoming a new mom recently.  I am so grateful to have a truly excellent dentist!  What a blessing.  

Here's to a few pain free days, to being careful what I eat and how I chew my food!!

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.

Cane-less Walking....Weeeeeelllll, At Least I'm Trying.......

 I decided the other day that when I can be outside walking where there is no scary, dangerous ice, I will walk sans cane.  There is a fine line between leaving the unnecessary dependence on the cane behind and developing bad walking habits by leaving the cane behind too soon.  So, today was a test!

With my former physiotherapist's voice speaking loudly in my head reminding me of the required form, I managed to get across three huge parking lots and back, three grocery stores and a restaurant, leaving my cane in the car.  The restaurant was the final stop and when I came out of there my poor old operated leg had had enough, so I was limping quite badly across their long and narrow parking lot after we ate.  My ability to obey my therapist's voice telling me to "Stand up straight and STOP LEANING TO THE SIDE!!!!", was completely shot and I literally stagger-stepped back to the car.  However, I am very, very happy to have succeeded for the most part up until that point. Today was the longest walk I have taken without a cane since July of 2024!  YAY ME!!  That was my "physio" for today.  Tomorrow is a physio day and I think that as I am able to spend more time outside taking longer walks without the cane and interspersing those days with proper physio exercises, the hip will continue to gain strength!  That is my hope and prayer anyway.

Great visit earlier this morning with my walking partner. She is a huge encouragement to me in many areas of my life. She is a spiritual sister, intensely practical and organized, I can tell her anything and she doesn't bat so much as an eyelash regardless of the topic....I am so grateful to have her in my life. She also shares many things with me and we have great talks and "problem solving" sessions.  My friends, along with my husband and son are my biggest blessings.