Thankful For A Chilly Day!!

Today was a very enjoyable day weather-wise!  Overnight a cold front blew in and when I woke up this morning I was wrapped up tightly in my duvet and there was a very chilly breeze blowing through from all the open windows. The sky was darkly clouded and remained overcast for most of the day.  The daytime high was only +17C. What a welcome break from our very warm July.  The rest of this week isn't supposed to become much warmer than about +25C and it is going to cool down to around +7C for several nights. Yippee!  I am grateful and delighted...elated even...to have a time out from hot weather, particularly as I expect the weather where we are headed later this month to be extremely humid and scorching hot!  

This morning we hauled out all the possibilities for clothes for the trip and did a preliminary packing up.  I have pulled two outfits I thought I was going to take and opted for my newest favourite summer dress instead.  I wore the dress to church  yesterday and decided it is more useful than the other two outfits put together.  It is difficult to know how much to pack for a whole month because, although there is laundry access at the apartment, it isn't in the suite and I don't know how many other guests will be jockeying for laundry time. We want to take a good ten days worth of clothes with us.  I also removed several pair of socks because they are just so bulky and are easy enough to wash out by hand in the kitchen sink in the evenings. Even with the high humidity each pair should be dry within a couple of days hanging over the bathroom the shower rod. My husband went through all his shirts and pants and made some tough decisions as well.  I am so happy we decided to do this preliminary pack.  It is causing us to be more realistic about our choices.  If the city we are going to wasn't so dirty I would be wearing my sandals most days, but for walking on the streets there it is safer to wear socks and walking shoes regardless of my outfit of the day.  I am becoming more excited now about the trip after feeling very unsure until very recently that I was up to the task of early morning airport arrivals, jockeying for overhead rack space, hauling my cane with me through security, lining up for boarding, fretting about possible flight delays and line ups at Customs and Immigration....on and on and on....I am not a relaxed flyer.  I enjoy the actual flying part, but the rest of the possible disasters awaiting do not thrill me.  

Now that this long weekend holiday is coming to an end, the other details for preparation to travel will begin.  All I can do is pray that the banking part of the pre-expedition goes well and that there are no more glitches with the bank we are forced to deal with for this trip.  Praying for mercy, that is all we can do.

 

Another Loss For Our Family

We arrived home after church this morning to the sad news that my husband's last remaining aunt passed away this morning. She was the youngest in my father in law's family of 11 siblings and is the last to pass on to better things.  She and her husband had incredible ministry and social outreach for several decades in Africa. We always called her a force to be reckoned with, which she was, but it was a force for good everywhere she went.  She was organized, forward thinking and very, very kind.  Uncle passed away a very few years ago and now we have lost our last Auntie as well.  We are very sad to lose her but happy to know she is no longer suffering the physical pains and mental indignities of old age in the midst of her 90's. My husband is very sad to lose her.  She and Uncle hired him several times when he was still in construction to build various projects at their home in the Okanagan.  During their last trip to Africa a few years ago they offered us the job of house sitting for them as we were "between residences" at the time and we were touched and delighted.  It was a mutually beneficial arrangement for our last summer before my husband went to seminary.  The house was filled with beautiful African artifacts and their wooden floors were inlaid with gorgeous patterns made of African wood that they brought back with them after one of their many sojourns there.  It was like living in a foreign palace.  It was a house of healing for us after a very rough time in our lives.

Dear dear Auntie...may she rest in peace and rise in glory! 

Church went well this morning. My husband's sermon based on the parable of the manager who hired workers one day at various times of the day, but paid them all the same exact wage, certainly had us thinking about "fairness" vs "justice" and why we have that built in mechanism that makes us quick to address things we see as being unfair in this world....how it is a good mechanism that is based on our creation in the image of a just God, but often poorly utilized due to our issues with greed and envy. He was delighted that one of his non-believing friends came to hear him preach and stayed to have a visit over an outdoor lemonade in front of the church when the service ended. Afterwards we went to the Fancy Fork and enjoyed our lunches: 4 item customer's choice egg plate breakfast for him, (he chose 2 scrambled eggs, asparagus, three strips of bacon and hash browns, plus he was given a hefty slice of watermelon as a bonus), and a very filling beef dip with a side of ginger carrot soup pour moi.  My husband ate most of my Italian bun so I could keep my carbs down and I pulled the beef slices and onions and Swiss cheese out of the bun and onto my plate where I could pour the delicious pan drippings au jus over it.  It was delicious!!  The prices were very good as well.  Our food and drinks came to just over forty dollars!  What I like about their breakfast and lunch menus is that there is such a broad range of prices.  

Now my husband is napping and I am going to try to complete a silly computer game I have been working on in my spare time over the past few weeks...another of my mouldy oldies from way in the past that today's game players would find incredibly boring, but is perfect for this old gal. 

The weather is delightful today now that most of the smoke has blown away.  While the temperature is still a bit high, there is a stiff breeze blowing so even this early in the afternoon we can have all the windows open on both sides of the house to stay cool. Wonderful!! 

Maman Is One Tough Cookie!

 Today, 93 year old Maman is going home! She will be able to have the valve replacement in a few months, so that is great news. Maman is a journalist and along with being able to walk and eat properly again, she has also begun writing up the details of her brush with death.  My friend is amazed by how well she is doing and is grateful for such positively answered prayers.  I am very happy for all of them. ⛪️

We had our first lower atmosphere forest fire smoke overnight, so this morning my eyelids are swollen and my lungs feel irritated. What a blessing that we made it through June and July with only a few overnight hours of higher altitude smoke that didn’t even rate a Smoke Warning from the weather forecasters. The sun this morning is a giant, flaming orange red ball, similar to the sunrise suns we used to see in Tokyo on a typical smoggy morning. I was so exhausted overnight that only once was I vaguely aware of smelling smoke and I was so groggy I couldn’t wake up sufficiently to get up and close the windows. What a trade off: breathing in poisonous particulate matter with the windows open or sweltering, sweating, headaching heat. Happy summer night to you too! 😉

I haven’t been able to force myself to get up and check the leaking spot in the kitchen ceiling. My husband is preaching at our own church this morning so he hasn’t the luxury to staying home to babysit that dripping crack and I have no intention of missing his sermon, so hopefully the large catch basin we have on top of the cupboards will hold however many more drips drip! 💧 

And....Now We've Sprung A Leak!!!! Aaaargh!!!

 This day just gets better and better!  NOT! hahahahahahahahahahahaha...the number of ha's denotes my current level of hysteria,hahahaha!

I had a shower at about 11am. After doing a bit of grocery shopping I came home to prepare a late lunch due to the late start of our day.  After lunch I was washing dishes when my husband noticed there were some drips of water on the outside of one of the cupboard doors.  He opened the door and saw a few more drops of water on the inside of the door, along the edge of the shelves and inside a few of the dishes closest to those edges. Wah???  He then looked up, waaaaaay up, (thank you CBC and the Friendly Giant children's show from long ago), and there, inside the 2 year old patching square from a plumbing problem that was fixed more than 2 years ago, was a lovely little crack with drops of water forming slowly and equally slowly dripping down onto the open cupboard top below. From there the water was coming over the edge of that top and making its way slowly, drip by drip, down the cupboard doors and onto the counter behind the toaster oven. It is all wiped up now, towels are down on top of the cupboards to absorb whatever water continues to drip out of the ceiling, all the dishes have been moved off the cupboard top and out of the cabinets and those in contact with the dripping water thoroughly washed. The maintenance request has been submitted and accepted by whoever accepts those things so...now we wait until whenever. 

BIG FAT SIGH!!!  Here we go again.  NOW what part of the ancient plumbing has failed?  

There was no water anywhere to be found on the bathroom floor, or around the toilet or under the bathroom sink....although when I was checking the cabinet under that sink and my hand made contact with the bottom of the sink, large shards of rust came off in my hands and fell into the box of cleaning products I store there.  BIGGER FATTER SIGH!!! Guess when the maintenance workers arrive on Tuesday...of course this is a long weekend with no one on duty between now and Tuesday to deal with anything other than dire emergencies, so we won't be able to bath or shower from now until whenever the maintenance plumber arrives...I will have to show him the bathroom sink and request a replacement.  Then what new issue is that going to create?  Oh Lord....why oh why will you not bring us a new place to live yet?  I am discouraged today on the one hand, on the other hand I am accepting the fact that once again we have reached "Ludicrous Speed", (thank you Spaceballs script writers), and that is just how life is right now. hahahahahahahaha!

Well, as the saying goes, "It never rains but it pours!"  Oops, I hope in this case the saying is not prophetic!!! hahahahahahahahaha! 

Maman's Continuing Health Journey Update

 I have another update in regard to Maman's recovery.  She is still in hospital after all because it has been discovered that she requires a new aortic valve.  While there is no huge rush for the surgery itself, she will need to have an angiogram to ensure the valve will be able to be installed through a vein in the groin.  If the angiogram shows otherwise she could be in need of open heart surgery.  Her angiogram should happen next Tuesday.  Hopefully it will be possible to insert the new valve using the usual method and once that is established she will likely be sent home to await the surgery.  So, more to pray about, but overall things are so much more positive than they appeared they would be, particularly after her actually dying for a bit before the temporary pace maker was put in. Whew....Thanks for praying for her and for her family.  It is very much appreciated.

It is another very warm day here, the forecast is for +32C; not the hottest we have had, but today there isn't a hint of a breeze anywhere near our area of the city, so even though it is currently only +25C it feels too hot to be comfortable outside.  I had to drive to the nearest grocery store instead of taking my intended walk due to a late start to my now overly warm day. I DID manage to fall asleep again after the 5:30am "Fight Club" on the front lawn and I slept for over 90 minutes.  It was worth getting a late start on the day just to feel better for the rest of the day.

My husband is meeting a friend for coffee this afternoon so I think I will tackle the needed executor's package updates.  I never want to go away without all that information being immediately available to one of our executors.  I learned from my parents' well organized banking and other financial records how important it is to have all the required information ready for the executor, as well as a list of where to start and in what order to do things like getting death certificates, adding up the monies in accounts and investments to take to the lawyer for access to the wills and to find out if probate will be necessary.  There are so many steps and each time something is attempted out of order it slows everything else down sometimes by several weeks.  Mom and Dad made things very smooth going for me in terms of available information that I needed. The financial institutions were the main hold up as probation was completed sooner than expected and caught them unawares.  I learned so much so we want to make everything as easy as possible for any executors when it is our turn to go. 

A Rough Morning!

The day is not off to the best start: I am not sure if it is because our local fair is underway and the city is filled with out of town visitors, more opportunities to drink and carouse, or if the heat is finally getting to people in a negative way, but it has been a wild night on the streets outside our place: motorcyclists popping wheelies and hollering as they raced down the street outside the bedroom window,  residents from one of the units near us having shrieking screaming meltdowns while outside on their phones, our neighbours next door receiving late night company whose tiny tots thumped and banged and hollered and bashed about until nearly 3am, crows cawing at top volume pretty much all night very unusually, groups of ear splitting muffler-less cars back firing incessantly while street racing, people waiting for the last transit bus just after midnight laughing and talking very loudly indeed for twenty minutes until the bus arrived and a few minutes ago four young adult fellows in matching tee shirts and pants, higher than kites on something or other, decided to have a fist fight on the front lawn followed by a loud and blubbering repentance: “Oh bro, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Oh, forgive me bro, I love you bro! Waaaah, waaaaah, waaaah….I’m soooooorrrrryyyyy…waaaaaaaaaahhhhhh….”  (Said injured bro was not badly injured enough to prevent him from staggering to his feet, clutching his attacker in a sloppy bear hug and noisily gulping out no end of curse laden forgiveness.)

Sigh….even my white noise machine was unable to cover the noise sufficiently to allow me to sleep through the hollering and traffic noise and fighting. It is now just after 5:30am and I have had less than four consecutive hours of sleep, but the fair ends tomorrow some time so if I can just get through whatever antics go down tonight, things should settle down again.

I am starting to feel like I am living in a combination zoo and three ring circus. As many people my age complain, “I’m getting too old for this  #*%@!!!”!

At least this is supposed to be the final day of heat for a while. There is that! 

I Wish I Could Share A Photo Of This!

 My husband is currently sitting on his plastic lawn chair on the back porch.  At his feet are a clutch of tiny Arabic speaking refugee boys and they are talking a blue streak in Arabic, English attempts and lisps while helping my husband pull weeds from our herb and tomato pots, touching and smelling leaves and flowers and enjoying life in the shade on the porch. They are each eating one of our almost ripened cherry tomatoes in the midst of all their blather.  My husband, who always wanted more children but was stoic when that didn't turn out to be possible and who has no grandchildren, is loving every minute of this. hahaha  He is so very patient and quiet spoken with the boys, admonishing them in no uncertain terms when they kick their soccer balls against the side of our suite and put holes and cracks in the siding, but also making sure they know he cares about them and is not angry and freaked out by their All Boy behaviour. hahaha  Watching these antics and overhearing his conversations with them gives me great joy.  I can't post a photo because I don't have permission to put pictures of the boys online of course, but just imagine, those of you who know us, what a kick my husband is getting from these interactions with the wee fellows.