Monthly Archives: May 2004

Rain at last.  The first moisture of significance since the last snowfall.  It is very refreshing and needed.  The land up here is parched, the river is the lowest I have ever seen it, and some farmers have not bothered to seed this spring.  So be patient you southeners who have had enough rain already.  We need this one and if it has to pass over you too – so be it!

There is nothing quite as good as the first sip of coffee after fasting for blood work for 14 hours!  I remembered and was very strict with myself.  I was afraid I would forget and get up in the morning and eat without thinking.  But I made it.  And they found the vein without too much difficulty even though it was shrunken from coffee withdrawal.

Now a week to ponder my cholesterol levels before I really find out.

We seem to be gearing up for another hectic weekend. 

Sara goes to Regina for soccer.  Fortunately she is getting a ride down with one of the other girls on the team.  Well – I say fortunately since there is no way we could fit a trip to Regina into this weekend.  Sara wishes I could take her since she isn’t “that good friends” with the other girls who are just a bit older than her.  But she will  manage.  Sounds like the hotel room is going to be full and Sara will need to take a sleeping bag and air mattress.  It will be cheaper that way at least.

Leo is away at meetings down in Moose Jaw as part of his MHO job.  So he will be coming back up via Wakaw(so he can stop and play golf).  He should get home Friday. 

The boys are going down to Saskatoon for some Fransaskois event – playing.  I think it is the Jeux Fransaskois and there is always a cultural component to this event which otherwise is athletics.  My boys are part of the “culture”.

And this weekend is also Grace’s dance recital.  The recital is so long that it is broken up into two parts and runs over two days.  Grace will dance Sat pm and Sunday eve.  I got tickets for both since I am not sure which is going to work out best for me. 

Sat eve is also a big event in Saskatoon for me.  The registrar for the College of Dental Surgeons of Saskatchewan is retiring.  He has been in this position since I was barely a new grad.  He is one of those guys with a remarkable memory who always seemed to take a personal interest in each dentist.  And he has always been very supportive – even when I stretched their thinking by going as a contract dentist into a community health centre.  And in spite of him fitting gender wise and age wise into the “old boys club” he always was very supportive of women in dentistry and as far as I know a good level headed and fair registrar.  Most of the class I graduated with will be there on Sat since 8 out of the ten of us practice in Saskatoon and I am not far away in Prince Albert.  And before George Peacock became registrar, he taught us at the dental college – pedodontics. 

Then back up to PA again Sat night.  I do not want to miss worshipping with friends again on Sunday am.

A large part of my day was spent preparing some updates on local anesthesia.  I sure do like the fact that our computer has a spell and grammar checker in French.  And it also helps to have my own personal French language coach for when the word, translated literally, just doesn’t quite have the correct meaning.  I think that set of notes is about ready.

It also was nice and sunny this morning – the sky was such a clear blue.  No bugs yet.  So I sat out on the deck spent some time with God,  some good books and a cup of strong coffee. 

Plants are beginning to come to life.  The ferns are uncurling their heads.  Leaves are coming out on the trees.  It is still too cold to plant annuals.  I may have to leave that job to CK.  He seems to have an interest in growing things although he seems to have forgotten that it still freezes at night and so succeeded in killing a few of his plants.  I think he thought they would do better with fresh air and sun.  The air was too fresh!  They weren’t quite ready for it.

time.  And have you ever noticed how time speeds up as you approach deadlines?  As I have less than one month till I leave for the Congo, I am too aware of this and find my time is becoming more and more coveted. 

And I notice how poorly organized I am too.  And that just seems to make me more frustrated.  Because I will never get half the stuff done that I had good intentions to do. 

As I run out of time, I also get downright unbearable to live with.  There is nothing in particular that I can nail down as a cause for being a grouch.  I just am.  And I don’t like that.  I end up snapping at the people around me that I love the most and need the most. 

So, today I was reading in On The Way by Gordon T. Smith that we need to be aware that God is using the ordinary circumstances of our lives to draw us to a deeper relationship with him.  That in whatever situation we find ourselves we need to look at how each occaision teaches us to trust God in the midst of it.  I can see that but boy God’s got a lot of work to do here.  I could sure relax more if I trusted him to take care of more of the little details.