Depression

seems to be the one thing we all share in this family! And we all know how many skin diseases are stress-induced! Will one week be enough to help you? Will you be able to get more if you need it? I can just envision you going back and them all sitting there saying "Don't worry, we didn't touch any of your work. We knew you would want us to save it all for you".

Now, what are you planning to do to take care of yourself? Is there anywhere in Neepawa where you can get pampered? This isn't a time to be trying to catch up on housework. A trick I've used is to write down a list of everything that is stressing me ( pissing me off, so to speak), then seeing if there is anything on the list that I can actually do anything about. It can be something small, but something you actually have control over and can change. Then do it. Sometimes exerting control over one small part of your life can help. The other trick Iuse is Morning Pages. This is a form of journalling where you write three full pages every day before you do anything else. Doesn't matter what you say. It doesn't have to even make sense. Just the physical act of writing something (entirely private-- burn the pages after if you want) can become a sort of "brain dump"that can help clarify things for you. I wish we were closer. I could lend you the book I got that idea from. It's "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. Julia Cameron is a writer, but this book is directed at anyone who has a creative soul--and you have one, whether you believe it or not. I wonder if you might be able to get it from the library. Or maybe this is an excuse for me to visit.

Enough is enough

I know that we needed rain, but it is lying on the surface of our sand!! And the frost warnings. All our bedding plants are in the garden. We talked to Tim today (his 40th birthday) he says they have had frost in Edmonton. It now appears that he will not be here when you are here Beth. It will probably be 2 weeks earlier because of the on call schedule. We hav promised him a birthday party while he is here. We will probably have to ask R0dney what to do, and who is around to invite. I am off work until the 7th of June. I had enough of work, and Dr. Chapman said that he had seen it coming. I guess it is depression but I cannot believe the work ethic in that place. They come into work 5 minutes late, and the first program they open is their personal email!!!! I come to work early so that at 8am I am at my desk prepared to work. I love ya Dad, but you taught me too well. I was also only 1/2 right when I said that all my scars had appeared. They did appear, but it was Vitaligo. Now I have yet another skin disorder to deal with. I am a walking map of all sorts of skin diseases. Do you think that I can a kickback on the discussion papers? Oh well. Jim is cooking egg rolls for supper (yes, I did say that I didn't want egg rolls, but I guess his hearing was turned off. oh well

Teeth

The new teeth didn't happen! He froze my entire face, nose and tongue, pried off the temporary, put in the new one, decided it didn't fit properly, and we start over again. This meant another impression--I absolutely hate that procedure! Anyway, I have another appointment next Wednesday to try again.

Grandparents' Day was a little different. We actually sat at tables rather than in bleachers. They were nicely set and we were served tea and cake between musical numbers. But it was simply a concert, and there was no interaction with the children. As we were leaving I phoned Amber to let her know that we had seen Jessica's class sing, and we were going home. There were some grandparents having pictures taken, and the children were being called out of the classrooms one at a time. While we were talking, Amber mentioned that she had ticked a box off to have a picture taken. Of course, we had no camera, so I found the principal and told her that we had no camera and she promptly said that they would take the picture and e-mail it to us. So we had to sit and wait awhile longer ( the children were being called alphabetically). But we had a picture taken and returned Jessica to her classroom. I think the one I attended for Gillian and Jeremy was much better organized, and we actually had interaction time with each child in the classroom--even if we sat in bleachers for most of it and suffered with warm Koolaid.

This morning was grocery shopping at three different stores during a thunder storm. The things we do to save a buck!

Be - Hot dam and all that jazz....

Well, Patty there is a plus side to all your activities of old age - you actually get out and associate with people. I always love to read your messages and hear about all you do. I am wondering though how you would be able to talk and eat with your new teeth just installed? I expect it would be painful, or was it not?
We had our first rain in weeks this afternoon- it came in the way of a thunder and lightening storm with a torrential downpour as thick as a wall and that lasted for about 30 min. Then the sun came back on and it was as if nothing had happened. I was in the process of baking pie and cake and cookies to take to Michael tomorrow. The lights flickered but the hydro stayed on, thankgoodness. We are going to celebrate his birthday as he will be leaving next week and won't be back for at least a month or for as long as it takes for him to defend the dignitaries at the G8 Summit the end of June. Then he states he will likely be in Petawawa for the summer as the plans are now. So it will likely mean more house and animal sitting for us again.
Same old life here - gardening, plants, Mother, gardening, plants, Mother, and sometimes all at once! We have a Robin nesting in our apple tree at the back of the house. Last year a pair of Blue Jays made the nest and tried to nest in it ( one egg) but the continuous rain drove them to abandon the nest and egg. Harry climbed up and found the poor egg left there. So this year the Robins reconstructed the nest and now I see the mother sitting there patiently - I watched from the window during the rain this afternoon and it just stayed in position during the downpour. I am happy that the rain did not last longer as I feared that it may turn out to be the same scenario as last year.
Well, time to close up shop for another day, and hit the sack. I haven't even been able to do much reading lately as by the time I get to bed, my poor eyes are so tired and sore, that the words on the page are just a big blur.Take care.....

New teeth

Today is the big day! I get my permanent fake teeth.

And this afternoon we get to go to "GrandParents Day" at Jessica's school! Hot damn! A chance to spend the afternoon in a hot school gym listening to a childrens' concert in French. Then Kool aid and a cookie before going to observe activity in the classroom--in French. At least that's what happened when I went to the one at Gillian and Jeremy's school.

Isn't old age wonderful when we get to participate in and celebrate these passages in life?

Are we obsessed with plants?

David got the rest of the mud spread today, with the help of the young fellow from across the back--who came over and volunteered. Everyone agreed that we have too much mud! So it's all piled up inthe backyard. The father from across the back expressed some interest in acquiring some, maybe later in the year. Good thing it's done, as it's been raining--even thunder and lightening--since about supper time. so the urgent work is finished. Over the summer we ( the royal we) will have to dig out another flower bed. Our Lily of the Valley is invading the neighbour's garden and has to go. We put a few clumps in the front flower bed where it would be contained, and if it takes root, will get rid of the rest. I've moved the Lily of the Valley with me from house to house, having taken the original plant from the garden on Maplewood, just as David has moved his Ladyslippers, ever since we bought the house on McMeans. The other plant that moves with us in the rhubarb. Now Dianne has asked for rhubarb, so I'll be taking her a root when I visit wiht "Ravenesque the first Monday in June. It seems funny when you write up and/or respond to a written offer on property, and spend more time listing the things that will be moved from the garden, than you do the details about the house itself!

Gardens & May Long

As usual, the warm sunny weather disappeared for May long. Very Windy and rain on and off. Thanks to Jim's puttering we have most of the garden in now. Only a few bedding plants to go. He planted a little bit every day. He wanted to get outside, and since he is not allowed to lift anything for another month, he figured gardening would be okay. As a result, we have potatoes, onions, radish and peas already up. The rest shouldn't be far behind. We planted the potatoes in batches, so that we should have new potatoes for a few weeks before they get big. We bought flowers for the office again this year. The facilities manager gave us his credit card number and off we went. Unfortunately, the green house didn't know how to go about not charging GST. Finally the decided that they would just write it all up by hand and bypass the till. Fine with us until they then told us no credit card for this... cash only. The things we do for the office!!! I also discovered 7 or 8 large anthills there when I mowed the grass yesterday! (the wind may have been strong, but it dried the grass quickly after the rain) I can't decide what to have for supper tonight. I really don't feel like a meal, but I don't know what I do feel like. What a dilemma! I need to wash the floors again. I don't know why I bothered. The sand and dirt just accumulate as fast as I clean. Oh well... summer is too short to worry about the inside of the house. Jim is outside puttering in the garden again, so I guess we will get the last of the bedding plants in today.... better not be frost this week!

Mud!

It would appear that we bought too much mud. David is spreading it out--bit by bit--and then putting a lot of it back in the wheelbarrow and bringing it back into the yard and stockpiling it. Yesterday I walked him over to Giant Tiger and we bought him a straw hat to wear. The top of his head was getting quite sunburnt, and considering that he had several cancerous growths removed last winter, this seemed a good precaution. At least he is pacing the work, or was until this morning. The forecast is for fairly heavy rains this afternoon and evening, and he really wants to get it finished before then.

On our bike ride this morning, we spotted something in someone's garbage pile in a back lane. This was what could be considered a ceiling rosette, mounted in a wooden frame. The rosette is plastic, and probably worth nothing. I thought about it after we got home and then jumped in the car and went back and picked it up. I was sure the police would be after me. I hid behind the garage with the car and then threw the thing in the back seat and took off as fast as I could. It cleaned up beautifully. By chance, yesterday I was reading about a method of using this sort of thing to create a pattern on fabric with fabric paint. The technique is more likely to be used with things like hub caps or ceiling tiles, but I thought I would try this. Now, of course, I want to try it RIGHT NOW! But with rain coming, it has to wait.

Fireworks

Thursday, as we were getting ready for bed, we could hear what was either thunder or fireworks. Sky was clear so we figured fireworks. Well, according to today's paper what we were hearing was the sound of 45 gallon drums of hydraulic fluid exploding at the site of a fire at Lagimodiere and Dugald Road. Never a dull moment around here. (I wish!!)

Be - Sympathetic vibes

I was wornout and tired from your ordeal today Patty ...and I just read about it but did not actually live it like you did, haha! Although I am sure I could delight you with similar stories on a daily basis, it is always great to hear what others are experiencing, too!
Long weekend is here and we just heard from Mike that he is back to North Bay from Petawawa after a very long two weeks. I forgot if I told you that he had no hot water at his place since early last week. Mike had left messages with his landlord, and Harry spoke with the landlord last night who reassured Harry that it would be looked at today. Mike tells us he arrived at the Armories from the trip from Petawawa, and then ran home from there with full gear and packs( It is about two miles) The first thing he did was try the water and guess what! No hot water. He is not a happy camper but we can leave it to him to get it straighened out now that he is home.
We have very hot temperatures right now which is great for not having to worry about the plants freezing at night, but not great for fire danger - full fire ban here including fireworks which is a tradition on May 24 weekend - I wonder who will try it anyway? - apparently they will be responsibile for any costs associated if they cause a fire.
Well, folks I wish you both a happy long weekend and will catch you on the other side...Take care.

The "Royal We" again

The apple tree is gone. It was a sad time because David's father bought it for us when we moved into this house. The "construction" in the back corner by the garage has been mostly dismantled. Two of the cedar planter boxes are now on the patio, complete with coleus and ivy. The fourth one was left in place, and the third one garbage. This leaves us with a huge hole to fill in. We've ordered top soil, and plan to plant peas there. The side garden will be dug out and the soil replaced, bit by bit, as the gardener is able to get to it. The bushes at the front of the house, both the roses and the decorative ones, were very badly winter killed, and all of the dead wood has been cut out. Between that and the apple tree, we have a huge pile to be cut to size, bundled up and put out with the garbage next week. The larger pieces of wood from the apple tree will be given to the boys across the back for their fire pit--which is replacing the sandbox that teenagers have no further use for.
Whe-e-ew! Tonight is the night for strong drink.

The big day is here--almost

This morning I go to have the impressions taken for my permanent fake teeth. The temporary ones have been replaced three times. He did such a god job last time--probably because he was pissed off at seeing me in there yet again--that I think he may have to use explosives to get them off. But probalby not as he's got to put them back on after he takes the impressions. I will be so glad when this is over. The only bad part about it is that I'll actually have to give him money next week. lol

We're faced with having to make some hard decisions about the garden. The young fellow across the back has dug the garden for us--did a great job of it getting rid of all of the weeds etc--including my daisies and iris. But now we have to put something in there. It's really in a poor location with not enough sun light, and difficult work in because the apple tree is too close. As well, the side garden where we had to Hellebore now needs attention. We had thought that they might have died because the area was cleaned up too soon, but I've recently been told that the whole city has suffered from excessive winterkill because there was so little snow cover. Certainly our front garden has suffered. So back garden, side garden and front garden--anything else. Oh yes the area beside the garage where we've always had tomatoes. Problems last year with blossom-end rot, and we've been told that we need to put the tomatoes somewhere else this year to get the micro-organisms out of the soil. Thank Goodness we pay someone to spray the lawn--all we have to do is cut that ( The "Royal" we, you understand.)

Lately, I've been reading a borrowed book on fibre art techniques. One suggestion was that I should paint or dye cosmetic pads. These are the ones that you use to clean off make-up. Do you know how absorbant those little suckers are? Slurp! Paint gone! Anyway once I've painted them, and while they are still wet, I'm supposed to tear them apart into layers. Then after these are all dry, I'm supposed to paint them again with "Gel medium" to make them firmer. Imagine trying to paint little pieces of cotton batten with sticky glue. So this is how I spend my time. Life has come to this! Maybe I should be locked up.

Be - Mid week and all is well

....As well as can be expected. I have started to get things ready for my trip and Harry had to remark that it was hardly time but I replied - yeh, its two months from now with great excitement in my voice! So maybe I am pushing it a bit but who cares, right? But I am looking at my cloths and trying to decide what I might need to take, and what I might need to buy. I have splurged and have bought new underwear - now before you interject a "so what" you must know this is a really big deal for me - to actually have new, fresh, really white bras and underpants in my drawer!
Garden work today again - starting to plant things in both ours and Mothers gardens and Harry has given lots more away so the number of plants is dwindling a bit. We will likely get another frost the end of May but will plan for it and cover up what we can at the time. It is harder at Mothers because she cannot cover herself so we have to go to cover up and then go back in the morning to uncover. And so it is to Mothers again tomorrow since it is Thursday already - Harry will be planting and I will be trying to keep Mother out of his hair! Then after we get home from Mothers we will make a fast trip to North Bay to check on Mike's place as he is in Petawawa these past two weeks.
I will also be picking rhubarb at Mothers and be making two big pies to take to Mike next week. "I love my rhubarb pies" he said to me on the phone on the weekend and so I shall oblige him for next week - it will be a whirlwind for him as he gets home from Petawawa, ends this current Course for which he is an Instructor and then heads to Borden and Meaford to train for the G8 Summit.
Anyway, hope you are both having a decent week - reading your notes makes me dizzy thinking of all you are both doing and how busy and hectic it is for you. Take care ( and take it easy!)

Pati here

Sorry to have been among the missing. This was a rough weekend. We had a sale in Landmark, that was less than successful. This had been a very well-advertised venture, and in a new area. We had hopes. But it was also the first really nice Saturday of the spring weather-wise. Disaster! As well, it was in a new building where there was no pass-by traffic. One had to actually get in a car and purposefully drive to the event. I was so up set that when we got home, we just unloaded everything intothe garage and went out for supper.
Sunday, the group had a meeting out in Seddon's Corner. This is a spot on Highway 44 east of Beausejour, with a resaurant and a gas station/convenience store. But by the time we got home, I was both physically and emotionally exhausted, and vegged out the rest of the day.
Now I have to catch up on all of my housework, as I have my stitching group coming tomorrow afternoon. The basement is a total mess, but, hopefully, I can keep them upstairs. This means scrubbing the livingroom, kitchen and bathroom. I started on the bathroom yesterday and realized that there is no way I can get the mildew off the silicone bead around the tub. So it looks like we have to replace most of it--before noon tomorrow. Well, at least I got out on my bike today.

Sunday... My day of rest

I have decided to do nothing today. Jim is on the riding lawn mower, to see how he feels. He is feeling a lot better, and the only restrictions he was given was no lifting for 6 weeks. He should be able to mow. We saw the snow birds yesterday. We ended up coming from the south, so we were across the highway from the airport, but we still had a pretty good view. They arrived at exactly 3pm, and left at exactly 3:30pm. They sure fly close together! From there we went to the 70th birthday party. We ended up sitting with a couple from Winnipeg. She was originally from here; I think she is the same age as Jim's sister Glenda. Anyway, it turns out that they now live on the corner of Baltimore and Fisher! (It was the Haines house when I was a kid). Martin was telling me that Osborne south is becoming revitalized now. The trashy places are moving out and he also said the Park Theatre is open. They have tables and serve food during the movies! AND, of the couple that owns it, the wife is from Neepawa! Small world. Bonar put on quite a spread for supper (there I go with food again!) Lots of meat trays, with real meat, not "slimy" pink ham and salami. There also had homemade baked beans, veggie trays, potato salad, cheese, pickles, olives (yech), buns and, of course, birthday cake. His nephew is in a "band" in Winnipeg, and his group came out and played. The party was supposed to be in the back room of the legion, but we spread out and filled the front part too. It was fun. The snow birds was the only part of homecoming that we went to. We checked out the midway on Friday (before it opened) It was quite impresive. There were lots of rides (for little kids and for older ones) They had all sorts of the midway games, and candy apples and mini donoughts. We never went into the yellowhead to check out the venders. Jim was ready to sit down by then. I quess the Saturday night social was full. All the armbands had been given out by around 7pm, and people were in line waiting for someone to leave so that they could get an armband. Lots went to get their bands and were going back later. We came home. I was ready for bed by then. Too much sun, I think, but it was also 10:30pm. Anyway, I guess I will do a little bit of work today. Jim can only get so close to the deck and house with the lawn mower, so I will do the trimming. Have a great week

Be - I hear you...

... together we could have a pasture full of horses, eh?
Today I attended a Memorial Service for a previous coworker / Case Manager who died April 19. He was one of the Case Managers that I managed in the Burk's Falls Office with my work at the CCAC. He retired in February 2007 and is now dead. He was also the Case Manager for Mother at the time so visited at her place for reassessments with Harry. The Service was excellent, with many, many of the "old" gang there it was more like a reunion but yet so very appropriate for this person. It is hard to describe this person adequately for you to get a picture of him but suffice to say his two ex wives nursed him to his death, and the husband of one of his exwives was the Master of Ceremonies for this service. I was given two boxes after the ceremony containing model aircraft and a model of the Enterprise from Star Trek that he had made. The one model aircraft was one he was making for me at the time we worked together - a replica of a DHC Beaver - but he never gave it to me because he was not pleased with the paint job - he was described as a perfectionist and that description was true - so now I have the model - perfect or not! Inspite of the nature of the gathering, it was nice for me to renew acquaintances with many of the people whom I have not seen for years. Of course my old "boss" was there but I behaved wonderfully well and was very sociable and polite inspite of feeling otherwise.
I never thought about Tim and Mady being there the same time as I invited myself Cathy - I could always have you help me put up my tent in your backyard, haha! I think it would be marvelous to celebrate your anniversary with our family in attendance - I am looking forward to it. As long as you and I do not have to make that horrible lasagna OK? Lets stick to hot dogs and hamburgers - that I can handle better. And I am anxious to have a "fire" if conditions allow. We are still under a strict fire ban in our area but I expect everyone is experiencing very dry conditions with so little rain and moisture. The excitement is building with thoughts of my trip - they say the "journey" (anticipation) is always greater than the destination. I think that is so very true.
Anyway - must go - as you say Cathy, life goes on.... Take care

If wishes were horses...........

Do you ever wish for things that you just don't have. Today I was really wishing for a friend. I wanted someone that I could talk too, and share my feelings with, with no repercussions. Not going to happen, I know. But I really needed a friend today. Oh well, life goes on. Jim wanted to go to meat draw today. I tried to convince him that he should stay home today, since the Snow Birds are here tomorrow, and we have a birthday party to go to. Talk about talking to a brick wall. We went to meat draw. I hope that he is up to going to everything tomorrow. At least I got the office cleaned while he was at the Legion. I still have to mow the lawn, but I tried lifting the lawn mower today, and I am sure I can get it in and out of the van. Of course, I have to put gas in the van before I leave the yard, and the car is out of gas too, and the lawn tractor, and weed whipper and lawn mower......... okay, I admit it.... I am whining.... I just want some sympathy today and there is no one here to pat me on the head and say everything is okay. If you can't bitch to your sisters who else is there!! On another note..... the Neepawa Lily Festival is July 23, 24 & 25 this year... There will be something happening while you are here, Beth. Tim and Mady are coming that weekend, too, but I told Jim that they can start at someone elses house this year. Usually we are the base and they spread out from here. This year they can start somewhere else (yippee) We were talking today about having a supper here on Sunday, the 25th. Beth will be here, and maybe Pati & Dave could come out ( we will even have a bed for you!!) With Mady & Tim here, and Beth here, we thought that maybe we could have a supper for our anniversary. It may be only hot dogs and hamburgers, but that is what we had at our wedding, so what the heck!! Lots of time to consider what we are doing. I took today off work to get a bit of rest. With Jim not feeling good, I have not been getting much sleep (he still hasn't had a dump... oh, sorry.... you are both medical professionals..... he has not had a bowel movement.....) I gave him some exlax, but no success.... I asked him to phone the doctor today, but, since he is a man... he didn't. The weather is finally great here. The Snow Birds are here on Saturday. Because they have never been in this area before, they have been practicing the last couple of days. Today there were clouds. We could here they flying over the house, but we couldn't see them...The guys in town said they had a great show! I guess we were the area that they flew over as they re-grouped, and they were probably pretty high up by then.. Jim wanted to just take the quad to the airport on Saturday for the show, but I don't think he is really up to quading right now. We will figure something out. The only advantage to beind at the airport is that we would hear the commentary. If we just want to watch, we can be further away. Anyway, thanks for letting me bitch.... talk to you later

Be - Talking about food and eating again.....

.. just as I grabbed two chocolate chip cookies as I sat down to the computer. And since the rhubarb is ready now, I have baked several kuchens, and of course eaten them. This weekend I make a Carrot Cake with cream cheese icing to take to Mothers on Monday to celebrate her Birthday (Tuesday is her actual birthday and she will turn 97 years) So I have many opportunities not to follow a strict regime and quite frankly anymore, I don't mind in the least. The other day I went into Value Village and bought a new pair of slacks and a blouse for my trip and purposely got a size larger (and also got the 20% Seniors discount). They fit great now and will fit great for my trip!! I made the mistake a few weeks ago of buying two pairs of slacks in a smaller size thinking I could squeeze into them by the time I travel but that won't happen now.
I took my tent down yesterday and packed it all up ready for the trip. It will be a real treat to sleep in this new one - lots of room to move and a bed to lay one! Now, the trick will be for me to put it up again all by myself!
Hope that Jim is back home and on the mend Cathy. I think we forget that each year we get a little bit older and a little less able to handle things the "way we used to". I sure notice it with myself - if I sit in the car for a drive even up to North Bay, when I try to get out my body will hardly move. Just wait until I drive west - you'll have to carry me around everywhere we go haha.
Well, it is raining a little bit right now - we sure need the rain. I put all the plants back into the greenhouses again for the night because it is supposed to be 5 degrees which is not freezing but I don't believe it. It felt cold with a nasty wind just before it started to rain. It froze last night and we weren't expecting it - fortunately all the plants were inside the greenhouses so all was well. I do not want to be the one to make a wrong call, and then lose everything that has been so much a part of my life for the last three months!
Take care

Dieting

I'm learning that no diet will work for me unless I have protein at every meal. This wouldn't be problem if I wasn't supposed to be restricting my intake of animal products. It never ends, although there's always an "ebb and flo" to the process. We were forced to buy a new scale--hate the thing! It provides my weight to two decimal points.



Maybe, if Jim is feeling that poorly, you're better off with him staying in an extra day. Not if you can't sleep though. I find I don't worry so much if he's complaining a lot. When he becomes more quiet, I get concerned. Loren's minor surgery went well--he was able to drive himself home. We haven't heard any more from him, but the whole idea was to reduce the pain he was experiencing and allow him a little more range of movement in his ankle. Hope it works for him.



David spent yesterday at the lake, with Gail, scouting out a new location for the outhouse and assessing the extent of the problem with the bathroom floor. They had to take out the toilet--and, yep, the floors gone. Just a lot of mould left behind. The long term plan is to go down the 9th or 10th of June to deal with these things. They have hired a fellow to do the work--the same one who replaced most of the plumbing last year--except he is now no longer working on weekends. It was planned this way as there is a big quilt show in Kenora that weekend, that I very much would like to see. However, while I was typing this, Windows took over the computer for updates, so I went to check to see when the june quilters' guild meeting is here. Yep--Friday June 10th.

Yesterday I was shopping with Amber and Samantha. I bought a couple of pints of Blackberries, to use in making some bramble berry jelly. It made me think of Dad. He used to send/bring me blackberries for my jelly. Since then I've always bought a few to use. They were cheap yesterday so I bought extra and Sam asked for one--and ate it and asked for more. So I had a few for supper--are those things ever good!! No wonder Daddy liked to pick them!

Hospitals

are not Jim's favourite place. He was determined he was going to be an outpatient for this operation, but guess where he stayed last night. By 7 pm he was still in a lot of pain and by then I had gone home and gotten his slippers and toothbrush etc. He still talked about going home, but his speech was puntuated by "squeals" of pain (actually he swore a lot) They gave him morphine at 4:15 pm, 2 tylenol "3" at about 5:30 and another shot of morphine at around 7 pm. The second shot seemed to work, because he calmed down and started dozing off. I left at 8 cause he wasn't coming home and he was really tired. Hopefully they send him home this morning. He knows I can leave work to pick him up. I thought I would get a pretty good night's sleep with the whole bed to myself, but I kept waking up. Jim's room is right across the hall from the cancer respite room where one of our friends is. Jim refused to go and visit him because he wanted to remember him healthy. We fought about it but as usual Jim won. Anyway, Bill came across the hall to see Jim, so maybe now Jim will be willing to visit Bill. I was trying to lose weight, but its funny how being home alone makes you look for something to munch on. I had potato chips and a glass of wine last night. So much for the raw veggies and salad I ate the rest of the day! Today is another day... Time for my fruit salad breakfast

Itinerary

Pati here
Itinerary looks great, Beth. Lots of time for everything we/you might want to do. I'm looking forward to it, and I've let both of my kids know. Fairly "zonked" from looking after the little one today. Couldn't go out because of the rain. Have both of them tomorrow and it willb e a longer day. Whoopee!

Poor Jim!

I didn't realize that he was waiting for surgery. Please pass on my best wishes.

I've never understood why people will sit or stand and wait to hear a band. The music is better on cd etc. A couple of times I've said that I regret not going to hear the Eagles in 1978, but that was an "event"--music had little to do with it. Because I've said that, David has said that we could go to a concert, sometime, of my choosing. I've never come across any on that appeals to me so much that I would allow him to make that supreme sacrifice--and I know it would be.

We finally got out to Tim's on our bikes today. The weather ( there's that word again) has been against us. We have decided that we can't afford to have breakfast there, every day, anymore, but can afford a drink every day. I'm holding out for breakfast on Sundays. LOL I need the exercise, but sure don't like actually doing it.

Loren and the children were over for supper last evening. I had wanted to get the lion out into the garden, but Jeremy isn't strong enough and Loren is not able to help him this year. Loren is still having a lot of pain, and they have decided to remove one of the screws in his leg. The surgery is on an outpatient basis tomorrow. They didn't say anything about him needing a drive home ( local anesthetic). but David is going to drive him anyway--after all it is his right leg.

Daren has a job guiding for the next five weeks, so Amber and the children are alone. For some reason, her sitter isn't available this week, so Grandma has been recruited, for Monday and Tuesday. Monday I just have the little one, as Jessica is at school, but Tuesday I'll have both. Now this is all day, so I expect that Monday and Tuesday evening I will crash as soon as I get home. Too bad, as there is a free workshop on Tuesday about setting up your own web site. This is something I am realizing that I need--the sooner the better. But I figure I'll be so wiped out that there will be no point in even trying to attend. The rest of the week will be better. David and Gail are going down to the lake on Wednesday to look around, and plan whatever maintenance will be necessary this year. I think the only project they are considering is moving the outhouse. but this means that I will have time alone in my own house--something that rarely happens. For some reason, I have several creative ideas floating around in my head, and want to get to them. I'm finally working on my rock face piece. This will keep me busy for awhile, but I also have two boxes in mind. I can't tell you how good it feels to finally have an idea!

We have weather here too!

Go figure.... weather everywhere! Must be a new fad. We got the rain we wanted, but it has been cold and miserable ever since. Next week is supposed to be better. Manitoba's homecomeing is next Wednesday to Saturday. I would like to see the snowbirds on Saturday, but the rest is ho-hum. Jim would like to see Streetheart, but they probably won't perform until quite late. The hall opens at 6pm and there is a 1600 person limit. (including the outside area) I doubt if we would get in, and even if we did, I don't really want to sit in the Yellowhead for 6 hours. I guess I am just not patriotic. Jim's hernia operation is on Tuesday. Unless he feels really rough it is an outpatient operation. He gets to decide if he wants to stay the night and I know he does NOT want to be admitted. Kris & Sandi had a great time in Washington. She has pictures posted on facebook. They were there for a week. I'm not sure what Kris did for the time Sandi was at her meetings. I am trying to convince Jim that he should cook me breakfast. He hasn't been up very long, though. Nice guy! He wakes me up at 6:02 am, because he is awake. I get up and he falls back to sleep. I was sooo looking forward to sleeping in this morning. This has been one of the longest 5 day work weeks I have had in a long time. Instead I get up and have to clean dog S..T up. Very stinky dog S..T. I ended up throwing the door mat outside. I do not think it will be coming back in. Gee, Beth, If Mike is at the G8 summit at least he will be close to home. Probably a bit closer than he would have liked. He doesn't even get to travel anywhere! You probably prefer that, though. JIm is moving... I think breakfast is on its way. Have a good weekend

Be - About weather...again...

Wonder why weather plays such an important role in my life?? Probably because all of what I do focuses on the weather, the garden, the plants, the greenhouses, the weather etc etc. We are under a severe snow watch with expectations of about 10 to 15 cm of snow by tomorrow night. Oh boy! At least my new tent will get the advantage of the "snow test" since it passed the "rain test" with flying colours.
I got my bike as far as the front yard so far - not on the road yet but it is getting closer. I need to pump up the tires and check the brakes etc but need a bit of time, and some nice weather. There's that weather word again.....
My rhubarb seems to be growing much better this year - this patch has been babied along for about five years without any good results but I actually think I may get at least one cutting for a pie or cake ( if it doesn't freeze with the snow) Mike loves rhubarb pie ( Mom's recipe from home) and I always try to make one for his birthday every year. But this year at birthday time he will be at the G8 Summit with the security forces - he leaves for CFB Borden to train on June 3. So I will try to sneak a pie in before he leaves even if I have to use some of Mothers rhubarb to bake it.
Well, Happy Mother's Day to both of you - hope you have a nice day, or at least a pleasant day, or maybe an hour on your own? Take care

Be - Oh my, rain and thunder and lightning

And I was on the highway making my way home from Luncheon in Huntsville. Torrential rains and winds but I was able to stay on the road and thank goodness it was short lived. By the time I arrived home it was sunny - amazing what a difference it makes from one area to another. I enjoyed my day in Huntsville - I had a few errands to do so I went early and did some shopping, etc before meeting Sue at the Swiss Chalet at noon.
Patty, Sue visited the the Textile Museum in Braintree Essex, England on her recent trip overseas in April and brought me a little gift of a greeting card with a small piece of silk adorned with "devore velvet" on the front- it looks like I imagine your felting may look like but then I have not seen your work up close and personal in real. She also included a little writeup about the Textile Artisits group there ".......voluntary organization providing a dynamic, active network where Textile Artists of all disciplines can create, exhibit, educate, improve their own practice and collaborate to promote their art form - To Take Textiles Forward into the mainstream of 21st century art...." Sound familiar to any of your goals and groups? Sue tried to describe some of the works of art at the museum incorporating textiles but said she was just overwhelmed with it all. She also said that she thought of both you and I when she was touring the facility thinking how much we would enjoy being there! Sue is the one who bought a few of your pieces in Wilno.
Well, tomorrow to Mothers again and so on, and so on....Take care

Friendship

Beth, I'm really glad to hear you are keeping up with your friend, Sue. This sort of thing can be such a support in our lives, even if they only serve as a diversion from the reality. This is how I sometimes feel about Dianne. Her life is so very different from mine, but we're able to meet in the middle and support each other in whatever we do.

Saturday evening my temporary bridge broke , and I was without a front tooth until this morning. The technician who took the two remaining pieces off said that they would have fallen off within the next couple of days anyway. I had called yesterday and made an appointment for 11:30 today, as David was taking the car in for an oil change. Well, he got home at 10:10 and they called at 10:15 and said get over here now. (I was still in my nightie.) I made it, and they have built a whole new temporary bridge, much heavier and more durable than the other. The socket is still not completely healed, so they want me to wait for the appointment I had scheduled to finish up the work and get the permanent bridge. I still believe I made the right decision in having the temporary bridge instead of a plate with one tooth. That would have stayed in my medicine cabinet for sure.

With the oil change, David had planned for a "Peace of Mind" inspection, as we'd been advised that our warrrantee is up at the end of next month. So we've now spent over $400 on brakes. We knew this was coming up, but didn't expect it to cost quite that much. However, it turns out that it was the factory power train warrantee that is up, the extended warrantee is good for another two years. What a relief! I had thought it was too soon for it to be up. But--so much for my very first Old Age Security cheque.

Be - It was wet rain here...

....and glad to have it. It was so dry although the rain just seemed to soak right down into the ground without making much difference. But the rain also allowed the "rain test" on my new tent which is still up in the backyard just waiting for some rain. It passed wonderfully well. So maybe camping will be OK this year on the August long weekend.
We have been busy with gardening - all sorts and allplaces. Today at Mothers we put in some seeds. All of our greenhouse plants are outside now- with the nice warm weather at night over the weekend they all came out and probably can stay out at least for most part of this week if the forecast is right. But the whole growing season is ahead of itself this year.
Glad to hear your weekend sale went fine Patty - I was thinking of you and whether it would be successful for you - nothing better than having some profit to show for sitting for two days at the sale. Fads do come and go, and good that you can identify early when you need to revamp and move on - too bad you can't know ahead of time what will be big sellers and be prepared!! Or maybe, you actually have to be the "trend setter".
Tomorrow is Tuesday which means North Bay and Violin lesson again. Wednesday will be an anomoly for me - I am going to Huntsville to have lunch with friend Sue.
Take care ....

Weekend over and now it snows!

The sale went well. I sold one of my African pieces, so made enough money to consider the show a success. But Saturday evening I broke off the middle section of my temporary bridge, so spent Sunday talking to people with a hole in the front of my face. Another sale in two weeks and then not again until mid-July. We usually enjoy these weekends, but this one seemed to drag. I only made $40 in sales on Sunday, two small sales first thing in the morning and another small sale late in the afternoon, with a long boring time in the middle.

So my gift to myself--I always reward myself after a sale--is to allow myself the time to catch up on housework this week. Whoopee!! Not very rewarding, but better than sitting and looking at the mess. I start today in the computer room--there is paper everywhere! I've also decided that we still have too much "stuff", despite having been through things several times since we moved into this house. I usually just pile it up and truck it over to the thrift store. I was telling Dianne this, and she said "oh, I just have Lindsay (husband) sell it on Etsy ( internet)" Shoot! Why didn't I think of that? Not that I would have the first clue how to actually do it! So--wish me luck on the "Big Clean-out"

Okay, I lied

the snow is staying.... this is not what I wanted... .. Please turn into rain!!!! I have put on my sandals.... I do not put on shoes again until fall..my feet will be very cold tomorrow!!

Okay, I lied

the happy dance was a rain dance

unfortunately it also brought snow... fortunately it didn't stay. Whatever falls from the sky is moisture and we really need it. I talked to both kids today. Kris is putting me to shame as he runs every day. (only 10 miles this morning) I figure I am doing good if I get out of bed! Keri is writing all the time. Her roommate moved in this week, so she will be able to save some money now. I keep trying for the lottery, but it is not working. Keri figures that maybe if I put an ad in the paper telling everyone else to stop buying tickets I might win! Think there is a chance? Not much else happening. I did a bunch of Whitemud Comedy stuff today, and this week I will do Viscount stuff and then I am done. We bought more seed potatoes yesterday, but with the snow we didn't plant them (go figure) JIm is down stairs with a friend right now. A bunch of young Hutterites stopped in. They wanted to check on the Hockey Game. Jim's friend (Sam) was the father of two of them. I think he is going to miss church today, cause it is already after 5. I have a roast in the oven for supper. I really need to get serious about losing weight. I wanted to loose 5 pounds a month this year. So far in 4 months I have lost 3 pounds. It is time to get going. I know I will never be skinny again, but I am not happy with my weight. I have gained 30 pounds in the last 6 years. I need to loose at least 20 of them (preferably more) but to do that I need to get active. Breaking my toe does not lead to exercise. Instead of jogging, I guess I will be walking carefully for a while. The thing is that I have to do it instead of just talking about it. I need support... Please come to my aid!!! Love YA!