Monthly Archives: September 2006

Tonight the group of women that I have been meeting with for the past few years began our season of reading together again.  One newcomer to the group makes it extra good. 

This year we are reading The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian McLaren.   I chose the book because I really liked what I read of it so far.  The book provokes me to think and I like to be made to think.  I guess we all did because we sat and talked for a long time.  I think it’s going to be a good read. 

The greatest benefit of meeting together still is always the talking together.  And the prayers for each other.  I have learned to depend on them.

This is one part of starting up the fall schedule that I look forward to with a lot of anticipation.  I don’t twist anyone’s arm to come or to participate and believe me that is a relief! 

I’m thinking I need to be adding a few more hours to my day.  Then I could become truly exhausted.  Which is probably all that more hours would add – unless of course they were sleeping hours.

Today it was hard to get up knowing that most of my day would be spent doing this garage sale we have been gearing up for around here.  This morning by 8:30 I was about ready to quit this mothering job(which includes telling your fundraising children that you will “help” them with a garage sale) and call in a large dump truck to haul all the stuff away.  By 9 when the sale was to start we were finally ready and the people started to come.

It wasn’t a huge success as far as making scads of cash off the stuff but we got rid of a lot of my aunt’s items – hankies and doilies, towels and trinkets.  I think it was enough work with a small enough return that I won’t be talked into doing one again.  The memory of all the time and work expended will fade slowly.  I hope.

The rest of the day – more flat tires – this time Grace’s car in our driveway.  Leo got the assignment of looking after that job and of picking up my repaired tire from yesterday.  Only problem was that the tire place I took my tire in to was closed.  Good thing the Hondas have a full sized spare. 

Then the best part of the day.  We spent time with a friend at her home at the lake for a barbecue.  Good food, lots of laughs.  A long day ended well. 

Well it hasn’t quite ended yet, I guess.  But my chicken curry for the church potluck is in the slow cooker and I am off to bed. 

The day started out early.  Leo had a meeting in Saskatoon at 9 am so he was up early.  Actually, I forgot to turn the alarm on but my built in alarm went off at 6 am so there was no problem.  He said to me after he put on his socks and was sitting on the bed, “If I am on the road by 7 I will have lots of time at this rate.”  Then he sat there for what seemed to me an endless amount of time – just sat there, contemplating who knows what.  So I replied, “At this rate you will still be sitting here at 9!”  Men!  Leo moves slowly in the morning.

I have a day off from work today so have made all sorts of plans in my head for what I will get accomplished.  There is a lot of office stuff to do with Yaunde – SIN #, open bank account, visit Randall to get introduced, visit Francophone school for intros, shop for toiletries, etc. 

Coming out of the gov’t building, task accomplished, SIN number in hand, we see that my vehicle has a flat front tire.  This should be no problem.  I have all the necessary parts in the back of the car, an instruction manual plus a guy who has done lots and lots of mechanical type work in tow.  Why bother CAA, right?  An hour later, the job is finally done and the CAA tow truck departs.  The jack supplied with my Honda and the slant of the pavement somehow are not compatible with changing a tire.  We could not raise the car high enough to get the tire off.  The CAA guy had to do the job.  He had a block of wood.

So now, half a day later, Yaunde and I have made it back home.  Missions accomplished.  As we have travelled around today, I could see that he was getting more and more uncomfortable.  His nasal passages are not used to this dry air.  Our last stop was to purchase saline spray and nasal jelly.  But by the time we got home his nose started to bleed. 

I assured him that if he didn’t die from the nose bleed he would get better. 

This summer has been one of the nicest I can remember, as far as weather goes, for a long time.  Tonight I went out for a ride just before sundown.  The temperature was just right, the sky was a gorgeous orangy pink.  A jet stream reflected gold in the west.  And the number of gulls gathering to migrate was simply incredible.

And there were clouds of little black insects.  I wasn’t too bad off on a bike but everyone I passed was swatting wildly.  I just kept my mouth closed!