Category Archives: Day to Day

I made it through the day.  Cold medication has got to be some of the most useful medication invented.  It does kind of dry up the head though.  Anyway, I was able to breath enough to play this morning.  I know I could have stayed home in bed but there is something I crave about participating in the communion service that I did not want to miss this morning. 

And I knew that I could spend all afternoon in bed – a luxury I won’t have the rest of the week. 

So all afternoon I snuggled up under the duvet with a book which I managed to read a small bit of before I dozed off. 

Tonight the group of women I get together with met for the first time since before Christmas.  We are part way through our reading of The Ragamuffin Gospel.  Tonight we were only four of our usual six so instead of reading we just sat and talked.  One of the things we discussed is what the new direction of the women’s group in our church might involve.  None of us are involved in the group right now.  There are a lot of reasons for the lack of participation; lack of time, different interests, seeing a need for involvement with each other that doesn’t involve some sort of fundraising activity.  We just don’t need another church activity if it doesn’t meet our spiritual needs.  Then we spent a great deal of time sharing our prayer needs.  It sure is nice having a group of other women that can be counted on to pray.  And we trust each other enough to share our real needs and not to worry about how we are coming across.  We know each other well enough to know that we have good reasons to be totally dependant on God’s grace.  That sort of freedom with each other is so good.

We’ll get back to the book next week.

Meanwhile some of us are going to go to that women’s meeting and see what is up.  Maybe change will happen. 

and it is one of the worst I have had in a long time.  Leo informs me it is probably some parainfluenza virus.  I will go to bed and nurse it.  I can actually breath OK through my nose but it feels like an elephant is sitting on my chest when I breath deeply.  And everything aches.  I probably have a fever. 

I drove to Saskatoon today to watch Sara play soccer.  They ended up second in their pool so have a final game tomorrow. 

And I went over to McNally – Robinson to browse and try to pick up a certain book I need to read before I read the one I got for Christmas.  And I was going to pick up a Classic FM for Randall.  Some turkeys ripped off the CD’s out of the two copies that were left.  Stealing Christmas CD’s! 

So, I find out the store takes the CD’s out of the magazine.  So I was just jumping to conclusions and should have asked.

Tonight it seems that I have nothing to do.  Nothing except the unending things that go with having a home – laundry, some cleaning, loading the dishwasher… 

No meetings.  In fact I just lent my vehicle to Christian who is off to play for a little Tsunami relief benefit.  His seems to have sprung a leak from the power steering hose and it is a little too cold to crawl under the car and find out what went wrong. And I think it is safer if he drives mine tonight. 

It actually feels a bit weird as if I am missing some meeting that I should be at. 

It was great tonight to sit around and talk and laugh with friends.  Some weeks there is just a lot of difficult stuff making up life.  Funerals.  Cold – crazy cold weather.  Colds and flu.  Money being tight.  Laughter and good friends make it all easier to take. 

And you know what?  The same problems are there.  But something happens while you sit around laughing.  Old funny stories and experiences come out from the depths of our memories.  Cold weather that kills cars and makes men wear “men’s tights” and women wear long underwear loses it’s edge – at least till we all have to leave the warmth of the restaurant and go to our cars. 

In fact, I think laughter is probably as essential part of winter survival gear.  That and a decaf moka.

Today was full of many events; unrelated except that I was somehow involved in all of them.

Sunday, of course means worship practice, then service, then coffee.  The kids usually try to talk us into going out to eat somewhere.  They tried again today but we, holding the purse, outvoted them.  You would think I couldn’t cook or something.  Maybe they are right but I thought that salmon baked in a lemon dill sauce with scalloped potatoes and rice for the potato haters was adequate.

Patrick has returned to Saskatoon – went down on the bus today.  He is looking forward to getting back to classes after almost four months in the Congo visiting his parents.  We sat around after lunch before he left discussing ways to get a better understanding of what one is reading in the Bible.  I will miss these discussions with him. 

Then went up to the hospital again.  Dad was fairly confused this afternoon.  Much of what he said made little sense.  It is funny how the sentences are fine.  He is not talking gibberish.  Just whatever story he is telling is like a phrase pulled from a book that none of the rest of us are reading.  And he throws it out into the conversation for no rhyme or reason.  Another friend is in the hospital again so I dropped by to see her too.  And I have a little patient – a newborn waiting for a feeding plate for a cleft lip and palate – we are all waiting for a lab to open somewhere tomorrow.

This weekend I also wrapped up a writing assignment.  I feel like it is done anyway.  And it is good to be done on time – honestly I am one of the world’s worst procrastinators.

Tomorrow life after the vacation begins in earnest.  A full week of work.  Wonder if I will survive?

Go ahead and make your resolutions.  I usually have no success keeping them so have given up on New Years resolutions.  I will just try to tackle each day as it comes as best I can.  Less guilt that way.  And probably the same success rate.

Last week some friends called and asked if we could come out for supper;  their daughter who is just finishing up a degree in international relations was at home and would love to meet Patrick and talk to him since he is going to be taking the same program.  We had not been out to their home for years.  And they have never been to ours – a condition which I need to remedy.  I just am not a big entertainer. 

It is funny how there are people, with whom one is an acquaintance, that are just easy to visit.  These folks live very simply in some respects.  He is a well known artist and she is one of my children’s teachers.  They have no TV that dominates their living room.  No cell phones.  He thinks he might be able to make it to retirement age without wearing a watch.  They live out on the old family homestead(her parents) in the old farmhouse.  Every spare inch of wall is covered in art work – upstairs and down.  Some of it is his, some is from other artists.  On the wall behind the dining room table is a large painting of Adam and Eve – not in your typical tropical garden but on the shores of a sandy beach of a northern lake. 

Conversation was easy around their table.  Even our children were at ease and joined in.  It ranged from school stuff – she is an English teacher – through the gamut of international affairs to how poorly Paul seems to have esteemed women. 

The evening ended with us going out to the studio to see a large painting of his which has just returned from touring Canada.  Miles is an artist who pays esteem attention to detail.  In his landscapes, one can distinguish the individual leaves on the trees, the blades of grass, the flowers in the field of canola and the pebbles on the beach.  The large painting that has been touring is a political satire  Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (Thus Passes the Glory of the World)  about 5′ by 7′.   In a deteriorating neo-gothic structure can be found the caricatures of all many recent world leaders; certainly most of our Canadian politicians.  As well there are people who have been an influence in his own life and in the Prince Albert art world.  It was fascinating looking at the painting with him and hearing him tell what the caricatures signified. 

So, in spite of being heavily medicated for my cold, the evening passed most pleasantly and quickly. 

Then Leo says, “We really should have them over.”  And I think yes but I don’t know if I am up to that kind of entertaining.  I would definitely have to spend a long time cleaning up the house.

For the first time in a long time I am feeling totally lousy.  I have a cold, cough, red and sore nose, headache and all the rest of those things that go with a cold.  And I had to work.  Had to change my mask every few minutes today.  After awhile, cough lozenges all taste horrid. 

At least I know this will pass in a few days.  Meanwhile – medication and early to bed.

It was my second day off before Christmas.  Spent some time shopping, some time baking and some time wrapping presents. 

Then I decided that since I am on vacation I should do something fun.  So I decided to pick Kieran up and take him with me for a couple of hours – just to get to know him better and stuff.  We would go visit my dad at the hospital and then I would take Kieran to my house for supper.  Kieran, by the way, is 17 months old.  Just old enough to walk and young enough not to want to walk when he can be carried.  And also, by the way, he has the greatest smile.  (Not that I’m biased)

So I waited till Kieran woke from his nap, picked his mom up from work, drove her home and picked him up. 

This weather is just about too cold to transfer a child seat from one car to the other but we did it. 

Then we went to the hospital to visit my dad.  Well Kieran’s smile is about enough to warm up anyone’s day.  We had a little visit.  Kieran ate an orange and toddled around dad’s room while we talked.  He sat in Great Grandpa’s lap for a few minutes but seemed a little nervous – just like sitting on Santa Claus’ lap – pretty scary.  He did like the walker – thought it was a neat toy I think.

Then we went home for spaghetti. 

Kieran has discovered the Christmas oranges – those sweet little Chinese or Japanese mandarins that are a must have at this time of the year.  He had already had one during our visit.  When he saw the box of oranges in the kitchen, he did not want anything else to eat. 

Then Grandpa Leo was asked to watch him for a minute while I did something – for a minute.  The next thing I knew there were howls of pain.  Kieran had decided to sit on the edge of the laundry basket and took a spill right into the corner of a coffee table.  Took a little chunk out of his head.  Blood streamed down his forehead and there was a lot of noise – don’t blame the little guy. 

My first outing with my grandson and he is injured.  How will I ever live that one down!  I wonder if they will let me borrow him again?

When you have a bunch of kids that are somehow attached to you, there is always someone coming or going.  Or something either wonderful or catastrophic going on.

Today at our house we have had a court case won.  Yippee!  My son had a little incident with the law back one weekend when I was away with another child at a soccer tournament and Leo was away working.  The rule was no parties.  We just forgot to tell all the other kids in town.  So about 200 kids dropped by.  Uninvited.  Noisy.  They didn’t all get in the house of course – thank goodness!  The cops came and the kids who were outside left.  But they came back so our son called the cops again.  This time he was charged with violating the noise bylaw.  He felt this was wrong since he was the one who called the police; so chose to go to court and fight the charges.  Today was the third attempt to get the case heard.  And the charges were dropped.

And tonight – we have a coming , a homecoming.  Patrick returns from the Congo.  Hope he has had enough of the hot tropics cause boy is he in for some cold!