Thanks Andrew for the link to the story on Madelaine L’Engle. She is one of my favorite authors. I watched the Wrinkle on Monday night. I have seen better movies although it was OK in a mediocre way. The book is much better – whoever wrote the movie script needed a better imagination. It sort of lost it’s magic in the filming.
Of Crowns and Things
Yesterday we were looking through my schedule at the office. Checking what date we should set as the last day for booking certain procedures – like crowns. These have an associated second appointment that has to be completed before I leave for the Congo. I don’t want to leave anyone in a temporary crown for a month while I’m away. The fact that Monday is going to be my last day for crowns – four of them that day – makes me realize how soon I’ll be leaving.
So today we had one of our favourite patients in for his crown.
Today’s patient is a favourite since he makes us all laugh. He is getting married in July and going into nursing in the fall. I hope he carries his sense of humour with him. Laughter may make people with stitches hurt but others it just may heal. Meanwhile, he is assisting one of the local veterinarians.
“I pulled four teeth yesterday,” he says. “And today I do some more dentistry.”
“More teeth to pull?” we asked.
“Don’t know,” he replied (through the mouthful of cotton rolls, etc.). “Never know till they are under.”
At least most of our patients can be examined awake and most don’t bite.
“Is this going to hurt?”
Not a bit”
Are you sure?”
Yup. If you are quiet long enough to get the freezing done!”
Left him for a few minutes while the retraction cord did it’s work. He wanted to know if he could join us downstairs for coffee!
So, did you have a good coffee? What kind do you use? My boss bought a Tim Horton’s coffee maker.” He’s really quite good at talking with cotton rolls in his mouth!
We finished packing the second cord and as he sat there in the chair with his mouth full of impression material we told him, We’re going back down to have coffee.”
Sitting around in our staff room downstairs – contemplating what we should have on the ceiling. I suggested we paint images of the bottom of people’s feet or shoes since that is what we hear above us – we are directly bellow the waiting room. Roger got a little carried away with the idea. Thought we should then paint what we’d see as if we could look up peoples “pant legs”. Yeah, right!!! Pant legs? Well wait a minute – with his perverse sense of humour someone’s hairy legs might be just his idea of art!
Tomorrow another favourite patient comes in for a crown too. But I think he’ll have his ears plugged in to better things to listen to than us.
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Visas
Visa forms are pretty much filled out and ready to go. Just have to get the copies of tickets and pay.
So hopefully everything will be sent away tomorrow.
I do not like to fill our these forms – it makes my head hurt and my eyes sore. But I think they are done!
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And then …
Vivid writes – on seeing the pictures from Abu Gharib – expressing better than I can the feelings of our inability to deal with the horrors of war. Read the whole poem here.
“I don’t know
what to do with them.What to do
with any of this.”
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It's hard
not to have an opinion on what is going on in Iraq. Makes me intensely disturbed and sad for our human race. War is such a pathetic way to solve our problems. It brings out the worst in us even if the cause may have seemed virtuous to start with.
Wonder how Love would have preferred we handled the whole issue of the evil in Iraq?
I thought that Chuck did a good job of commenting on this mess – a balanced American voice. And only one of many I suspect.
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Filed under In the News
Mother's Day
It was a good day as far as Mother’s Days go. Most of my kids were home and my daughter who was working just phoned me. The kids cooked and mostly cleaned up. Annette and I sat and talked while the burgers were being made.
I received some nice gifts too. A blender – the kids really have gotten into making smoothies and wanted one badly. I suggested they get one for me for Mother’s Day and then treat me to a smoothie. So they did. I also got two figurines by Willow Tree “Grandmother” and “Angel of the Spirit” as well as a gift certificate for a one hour massage.
And then we sat around and talked.
One interesting topic was why they like to come to church at Gateway. A mother sort of wonders these things, you know. They like the mix of music (some old and some new) and they like it that no one is up in the front “performing”. One son commented that a middle aged woman should not get up in the front and try to dance while leading the music – a bad experience elsewhere I guess. And they like the pastor. Randall – you come across as real, down to earth and intelligent in what you say – according to my older kids anyway. And they all agreed that they would not want to listen to their own father’s dry sermons very often. (they did last Sunday when Leo spoke in Randall’s absence).
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Forms, forms, forms
There is all sorts of paper flying around here and more to come.
Tonight I have been filling out visa application forms. All have to be hand written. 3 copies for each of us for the Congo. 2 copies for each of us for the Central African Republic. My hand is sore so I’ve come down to the computer for a break. We download all these forms off the internet. Too bad they couldn’t be filled out that way too.
And tomorrow Leo has to go and get a letter notarized that states I have his permission to travel with the girls.
I guess they comply with the international regulations on movement of children. Which is good from the point of view of protection if I was trying to run off with them. But more paper.
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Shopping
I have developed a bit of an aversion to shopping. I suppose if one had an endless supply of cash it would not be so much of a strain. But going out looking for stuff is to subject oneself to all sorts of temptation – and it is too easy to decide that something is “needed” when you sure didn’t need it till you saw it.
Anyway today was shopping for something that had to be bought. Dresses for my friends wedding. So what can a person do? Might as well enjoy it – right?
So I did. Maybe it was nicer than usual since I was with my friend. Usually I am shopping with kids and they definitely don’t know how to distinguish between need and want and I end up paying the bill. There are only so many “but Mom – please” phrases one can resist in a day before my resistance breaks down or I get very irritated with them. Either way it is not what I would call fun.
Today was mostly pure fun – we walked a lot, tried on lots of dresses in this little shop we found when we were just about at the end of our search, had Vietnamese food together for lunch and a couple of smoothie’s later on. We found a dress that I think is just right for her and one I liked too.
Then to top it off we had supper at Montana’s with her kids. And her kids being a little bit crazy (and double jointed, I might add) made it just a fun evening. The ride back up to PA passed quickly as time does when friends are talking.
All in all it was a great day.
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This week…
has been long and tiring. I am so incredibly sleepy tonight. I’d like to be up in my bed but being the single parent for a few days means I should be paying attention to when and where the kids are coming and going. So I guess I’ll mess around in the kitchen, cleaning it up and then see what is brewing in the laundry department. Exciting stuff, but it should keep me up till curfew time.
Tomorrow – trip to Saskatoon. Shopping for dresses for my friends wedding. I see her at work almost every day but I think this will be more fun. We don’t do much of this kind of fun stuff together.
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Passport photos
are one of the most expensive ways to have pictures taken. The girls and I need a slug of them for the visas. One more expense behind me.
One step closer to leaving.
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