Category Archives: Day to Day

July 11, 2010 · 8:35 pm

I feel exhausted

And I guess it shouldn’t surprise me. 

At 11pm last night I left the office leaving one little girl more comfortable and happier.  I moved a very displaced tooth back to where it should have been before she crashed on her rollerblades.  The tooth beside it had, unfortunately, departed permanently – no one knew where.

Came home to my son and family who were watching a movie.  I was beat so went to bed.  A few hours later my sleep was interrupted by the phone.  I was in a deep deep sleep and woke up thinking that the phone was just ringing.  But was it just a dream?  By the time I was conscious it had stopped but I knew that being on call, it probably was not just a bad dream. So, I got up and just as I was checking the messages Eric called.

Auntie had fallen again and was on her way back to the hospital by ambulance.  Waited up a bit and checked with Emergency – all was under control till morning and if not they would call.

This morning before church I spent some time with her, made it to church, Kieran’s seventh birthday party and then back up to the hospital. 

Sat with my aunt who was mostly dozing – in and out of sleep – me  as well as I sat waiting for some word.  Finally – good news.  Nothing appeared to have broken again.  She was going back to the nursing home – this was around 6 pm.  One last trip up to My St Joes to see her safely tucked back into her own bed. 

Now I feel I am ready for sleep myself but it is only 8:30 and guests are still here.  Chinese food has just arrived.  Who knows when everyone will head back to their own homes.  I think I’ll grab some food and go chill out in a quiet corner with my feet up.

Thanks to all who are keeping my auntie in their prayers.  It seems a bit of a wonder that she did not break anything new.  I was so anxious for her and for our own travel plans only a week away.  Wondering what to do in a worst case scenario has sort of been tearing me apart on top of my fatigue.  I hope this night is quiet.

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Filed under Day to Day, Dental, Family

July 3, 2010 · 6:42 pm

Canada Day till now.

I am so glad that Canada Day showed up in the middle of the week this year! We had decided a long time ago to close the office on Friday giving us all a nice long weekend in the middle of summer.

I haven’t had time to relax like I have this weekend for a long time. I decided sort of at the last minute to drive out to Alberta to see the Friesen’s in The Field. Best decision I could have made. Good friends, good times and long stretches of quiet.

And see – I planted Lauralea’s garden.  I think there is more gravel than top soil.  We’ll see what grows.

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It’s never too late? Hope the tomato plants survive. They were still looking a bit droopy this afternoon.

I also watched the cross raising.

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Good use for an old fire truck. You could tell they are farmers though – no safety harnesses.

Mostly I read and rested.

My soul may have actually caught up with the rest of me. The winter months have had so much time devoted to studying. I’ve crammed lots of things into my brain but my soul sort of went a bit dry I think. I am feeling a bit like I can go back home now and give the last two weeks of work my best, finish organizing the travel in Europe and pack my bags for the Big Trip.

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Filed under Day to Day, Gardening, Reading, Travels

June 28, 2010 · 10:28 pm

Reflecting on an ordinary day

It was just an ordinary day at work.  The morning was fine so I rode to work.  It really is hardly far enough to count as exercise but I guess anything is better than nothing.  So 6 minutes ride there and 6 minutes to get home.  That left me with a good 45 minutes needed and not done.  Finished that off on the exercise bike tonight since there was a huge storm this evening.

Well, maybe not so huge a storm in comparison to what I hear is brewing down in the south over the Gulf of Mexico.  But here the sky was wild with clouds and it always makes me wonder if someplace near got hit hard by wind or hail. 

Work really was quite ordinary today.  No great crises.  No emergencies or disasters.  There are many times when I think I am not thankful enough for the ordinary days that I have. 

It seems every day that I am letting someone know that in the fall I will only be in the office two days a week.  I think that I am booking way into October for long procedures.  I guess the time is coming to sit and evaluate what things I will give up doing.  Our new associate is great to have around.  I think he will do well and we’ll feel quite confident to move patients over to his care. 

Well, now, it is time to get to bed.  I could not get to sleep last night so I am super tired tonight.  I am hoping for a peaceful and quiet night with a good rest.

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Filed under Day to Day, Dental

June 21, 2010 · 10:35 pm

Back to the routines

First day back at work.  Twas a very good full day too. And I am tired.

And a day of waiting for news about a friend’s surgery – and that did indeed go well.  He had a lot of folks praying for him and we’ll keep that up till he’s backup on his feet again and then some as he recuperates and maybe does some cardiac rehab.

Had a visit after supper from the great Zaka.  He had to come and pick up the things Grandma brought him from Chicago.  And have supper.  And ice cream.  Then the boys discovered the hammock in the back yard and had a ball.

Then I recommenced my evening bike rides.  Two weeks in Chicago did nothing form my weight loss program.  Riding the Rotary Trail is so nice in the evening.  The deer were out  on the far side of the river too, coming down for their evening drinks I suppose.  I love watching to see what wildlife will show up.

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Filed under Day to Day, grandchildren

May 28, 2010 · 10:01 pm

Neighbors

Well, it seems I have acquired a new friend.  A little friend about five years old. 

On the weekend when I was outside with Zaka attempting to interest him in some prolonged pedaling on his little bike – at least not to stop pedaling when he got it started – one of our new neighbours came over to see what was up.  J is 5 and since Zaka is 41/2 they hit it off and had a good time.  J especially liked the strawberries and ice cream that I dished out to all the grandkids and also to him.  That afternoon the kids ran around and played cars and rode a bit on the bikes and watched some TV together.

Tonight, my doorbell rang.  There stood J at the door.  I explained that Zaka wasn’t here today, that he was at his house but assured J that I would call him over to play the next time that Zaka came for a visit.

J must have been bored or just very curious.  He first wanted me to come outside and play then instead of Zaka. I told him that I was busy cooking supper and just couldn’t come out.  So then he decided that our cat really needed to be petted and could he come in and pet the cat please. 

You really have to see J to fully understand how helpless an adult can be trying to refuse the request of a little guy with extremely thick glasses with speech somewhat garbled from his missing front teeth. 

Our doorbell rang three times during supper.  In he came to check out the landscaping activity in the backyard but especially to pet the cat who willing snuggled up to him as if this was a very special kid that needed to be loved.

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Filed under Day to Day, Family, grandchildren

May 24, 2010 · 10:10 pm

The house is quiet again

The last couple of hours have been so quiet.  I went out and planted some of my planters, loaded the dishwasher for the umteenth time today and wiped down the table.  Having a house full of people, including little ones with sticky fingers, makes for a lot of dishes and wiping up.  And this afternoon while I was watching Zaka for his mom, the neighbour kids came over too.  So for a while we were a hub of activity.

Leo’s brother left this morning with a load of plants and some of the hostas escaping from the edge of our flower bed – slated for annihilation anyway.

This afternoon Sara and Christian headed back to Saskatoon.  Sara has loads of clean laundry and has a couple more weeks of class.  Not sure just what Christian is up to.  Music of some sort I guess.

Tomorrow it is back to work.  It will be nice to settle back into the routine, busy as it is. 

And I will have my space back. 

I love having everyone here but my introverted self sure is glad when the quiet descends on us again.

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Filed under Day to Day, Family, Gardening, grandchildren

May 22, 2010 · 6:00 am

The calm of the morning

I‘m up early this morning.  Funny how when I can sleep in, the biological alarm kicks in and wakes me every time.  But this way I do get to enjoy the peace and beauty of a calm sunny morning without the inevitable obligations of the day encroaching on this space.

Today is Leo’s birthday.  Our spare beds are full of family up for the weekend – just what Leo wanted I think.  And it seems that everyone is still sound asleep, even the baby.  Later on there will be lots of activity. 

A whole bunch of yard work is going to be going on around here this weekend as well as birthday celebrations. We need to take out a couple of dead trees, build a new section of fence and the back gate and put in some paving stone and maybe even my little pond that I’ve been hoping for.  Other trees and shrubs need trimming and I need to get some things planted. It is still pretty cool at night but I think it might be safe to go ahead and plant.

So, here I am appreciating the quiet in preparation for a busy day ahead.  May your long weekend be as blest as I’m sure mine is going to be.

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Filed under Day to Day, Family, Gardening

May 20, 2010 · 10:46 am

excuses

I think I have been silent here too long. 

My excuse is that I don’t have the energy to say anything significant.

Which probably means that I need to take some time to just distance myself from the books I am studying and begin to participate in life again.  I need to watch a good movie or something. 

Maybe it is just time for a good long vacation.

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Filed under Day to Day, Reflections

May 6, 2010 · 7:49 pm

Final exam has been submitted and now…

I have been introduced to Old Testament literature and now, that class is done. It was good, although learning on-line has certain drawbacks relationship wise. I missed listening in on really good discussion. And I learn a lot by listening in, even if I do not say a lot myself. I am just not one of those quick thinking encyclopedias of knowledge. It takes me a while to dig deep into the stuff that I store in my noggin. And then, alas, the conversation has often moved on to other topics while my archives have been searched.

I’ve done well on all my classes so far. I’m not sure how that has come about.  I’ve sort of surprised myself actually.  There are many classes yet to come that will continue to test my ability to think and reason. But, here I am at a stage in life where marks are an interesting way to measure one’s self against others who also took the class but not the goal of my studies at all. There is so much to learn. How can one have learned 70 or 80 or 90% of all that could be studied? Perhaps having lived a few years gives a person a bit of an advantage. After all I have lived with these stories from the Bible most of my life even if they were more often the romanticized versions than the real life dirty messy stories of real people from cultures we struggle to comprehend.

I still have a long way to go before I am done the whole seminary stint. A long way.

Today, I ran into a friend. We were having a family meeting with the staff at Mont St Joseph’s and low and behold, the new Spiritual Care Director is a guy I met at one of Leo’s staff Christmas parties. He’s recently finished his training at Luther Seminary and we’d had a good chat last year. So we got to compare notes with each other again. It’s always fun to meet another friend of a like age with common interests.

Older age is great. You achieve a certain amount of freedom as you explore life’s possibilities beyond the family raising years.

We will not speak of the aches and pains that go with it.

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Filed under Day to Day, Studying

April 25, 2010 · 5:07 pm

Saturday at Anglin Lake

It is Saturday morning and I sit in my cabin looking out of my wide window that overlooks the trees and the lake and once again I marvel at the wonder of creation and the creator. This place where I am staying attempts to preserve the natural ecology of this spot. There are no manmade beaches. The lake lapping up to the roots of trees cause the slow erosion around them tipping them towards it till they bow to the might of the water. The falling of the trees and the natural process of decay that follows provides cover for nesting birds and shelter for the fingerling fish from their ever present predators.

The lake ice is gone early this year and the loons have returned. Perhaps if it were not so snowy I would see them swimming by. I wonder what they think of this late spring snow and the wisdom of their early return?

The snow is still falling – or is it rain? It won’t last. The weatherman is promising temperatures back up to the mid-teens by the end of the week. But this weather provides me with a perfect atmosphere for study mixed with short walks. Last night the fire in the stove warmed this place up quickly. I slept well and late.

This is a good place to renew my connections with the God who is. Nature tends to do this for me. It is a good place in which to study the complex relationship God has had with his people throughout history. The story is so old and was written to a people we hardly can understand from the context of our own culture. I am learning that studying these stories is a complex affair. There is Ancient Near Eastern archaeology to consider, other ancient stories that demonstrate similar ways of telling the stories of origins, battle reports and history. Still, there is a continuous thread that weaves through these ancient stories that teaches us about our sovereign Lord, his covenant with those who he chose as his people through whom to bring his blessing to the world and his requirements of all to love him and live in ways that honour him. It is the history of my own faith and it causes me to wonder at the ways of God.

So, I think now it is time for a fresh cup of coffee, then back to the books. Since I have no internet here, this won’t get posted till Sunday. That’s OK. I needed a break from the internet for a few days.

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Filed under Day to Day, Studying, Travels