Today was another long day and not because I really did anything but because even happy social events take their toll on your energy and those, which are a bit more stressful, are draining. It was a mild sunny afternoon and much better than the weather forecast for tomorrow’s service which meant that folks with mobility problems were able to get out easily. When you’ve lived to be almost 94 you’ve outlived most of your friends and Mom didn’t have any enemies so that left neighbours, family and a few seniors. Lovely to hear the stories of this warm, kind woman and what she had meant to others to bring a bit of closure. I took out some photos and the family scrapbook, which was a nice conversation piece. I was touched to find a bouquet from former workmates waiting when we arrived – that was the closest threatening of tears for the whole afternoon – how thoughtful.
After beating it into town, returning the loaner car to the dealership, depositing the bank draft for tuition and then off to pick up a friend’s son who had arrived on the shuttle. This little guy had spent time with daughter #1 at her grandparents and she had done the same with him so they’ve both made an effort to attend grandparent farewell services, it was a lovely gesture. Lots of lovely cards today as well, so many thoughtful people.
Now, we’ve crashed as three out of four of us are sick with colds and are conserving our strength for tomorrow. The cleaning lady has left a message about arriving in the morning so that will make the place presentable should folks drop in. How come Friday is looming up so quickly this week?
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Planning 101
Well my cold is settling a bit so at least I don’t sound like I’m a frog. Am busier being off this week than if working but it is good to have leave to deal with things.
Today I headed in to run errands in town and didn’t realize how frantic I was until it took a group of people to look after me. I stopped at the post office to mail a package to baby daughter then headed over to the garage to drop off the first born daughter’s car, getting a lift to the dentist. The dentist appointment consisted of x-rays and an impression for the new bridge I’m getting (which my dental insurance is paying only half of) and the impression goop pulled out the existing bridge so now I have a large hole with sharp edges in the back of my mouth until the second appointment next week. On the walk from the dentist back to the garage I stopped at the pharmacy for cold medicine and…discovered I didn’t have my debit card so I decide I must’ve lost it on Monday on the way home in the storm as I wasn’t out of the house yesterday. This caused a mad search in the purse; call to the life partner to look in the truck (like a dump picking expedition if you’ve ever seen that cab) and a call to the prodigal on at home to search there – no luck. I made my way to the garage and was informed that the daughter’s car was in need of safety inspection (since October) four new tires as they were slick as glass and they wondered how I’d made it in this morning, only had daytime running lights and needed to be aligned and new ball joint so they would find me something to drive home in. The mechanic cleaned off a new Sebring and I headed out to the bank to close out the education account but was told by the teller that this wasn’t possible as the account wasn’t opened here and I’d have to go to Yarmouth to do that. I insisted that I had to at least withdraw the money and that was okayed, with me agreeing to a bank draft, as I obviously couldn’t even manage to keep my debit card. The bank draft cost $6.50 but instead of taking it out of the funds in the account what does the teller do but withdraw all the money and then the $6.50 overdraws the account into the overdraft so I have to give her the cash (what little I have in my wallet) to redeposit so I can actually close the account when I get to the place of origin. I head over to Frenchy’s to pick up a pair of dress pants for the prodigal son as goodness knows what he’d be found in at his grandmother’s funeral if not. Then I head down to the graphic design shop to pick up the photo, which they have printed for the memorial service and we retrace my steps and discover I must’ve left the debit card at the post office. The ladies there had kindly found it and were going to send it along with the rural route driver tomorrow so I retrieved it, picked up a photo frame and decided I was better off at home at this rate.
This afternoon brought the kindness of a neighbour and former co-worker bringing fish cakes to feed a gang. The minister stopped in to plan the service for Friday and we had a very therapeutic chat. She was concerned I was managing too well and was just being a professional and I assured her there had been many tears over the past eight years of the dementia torture my mother lived in and actually more tears than I’d expected still this week considering her life well lived. The flower shop delivered a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my workmates this evening and the card was obviously transcribed by someone who had never heard of our job titles because it read “your section control and occupational health friends”. Well really, what are an infection control let alone a section control friend? Lots of phone calls, emails and condolences from near and far. Tomorrow afternoon is visitation and daughter # 2 has arrived from university so things are getting busy again, time to go.
Today I headed in to run errands in town and didn’t realize how frantic I was until it took a group of people to look after me. I stopped at the post office to mail a package to baby daughter then headed over to the garage to drop off the first born daughter’s car, getting a lift to the dentist. The dentist appointment consisted of x-rays and an impression for the new bridge I’m getting (which my dental insurance is paying only half of) and the impression goop pulled out the existing bridge so now I have a large hole with sharp edges in the back of my mouth until the second appointment next week. On the walk from the dentist back to the garage I stopped at the pharmacy for cold medicine and…discovered I didn’t have my debit card so I decide I must’ve lost it on Monday on the way home in the storm as I wasn’t out of the house yesterday. This caused a mad search in the purse; call to the life partner to look in the truck (like a dump picking expedition if you’ve ever seen that cab) and a call to the prodigal on at home to search there – no luck. I made my way to the garage and was informed that the daughter’s car was in need of safety inspection (since October) four new tires as they were slick as glass and they wondered how I’d made it in this morning, only had daytime running lights and needed to be aligned and new ball joint so they would find me something to drive home in. The mechanic cleaned off a new Sebring and I headed out to the bank to close out the education account but was told by the teller that this wasn’t possible as the account wasn’t opened here and I’d have to go to Yarmouth to do that. I insisted that I had to at least withdraw the money and that was okayed, with me agreeing to a bank draft, as I obviously couldn’t even manage to keep my debit card. The bank draft cost $6.50 but instead of taking it out of the funds in the account what does the teller do but withdraw all the money and then the $6.50 overdraws the account into the overdraft so I have to give her the cash (what little I have in my wallet) to redeposit so I can actually close the account when I get to the place of origin. I head over to Frenchy’s to pick up a pair of dress pants for the prodigal son as goodness knows what he’d be found in at his grandmother’s funeral if not. Then I head down to the graphic design shop to pick up the photo, which they have printed for the memorial service and we retrace my steps and discover I must’ve left the debit card at the post office. The ladies there had kindly found it and were going to send it along with the rural route driver tomorrow so I retrieved it, picked up a photo frame and decided I was better off at home at this rate.
This afternoon brought the kindness of a neighbour and former co-worker bringing fish cakes to feed a gang. The minister stopped in to plan the service for Friday and we had a very therapeutic chat. She was concerned I was managing too well and was just being a professional and I assured her there had been many tears over the past eight years of the dementia torture my mother lived in and actually more tears than I’d expected still this week considering her life well lived. The flower shop delivered a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my workmates this evening and the card was obviously transcribed by someone who had never heard of our job titles because it read “your section control and occupational health friends”. Well really, what are an infection control let alone a section control friend? Lots of phone calls, emails and condolences from near and far. Tomorrow afternoon is visitation and daughter # 2 has arrived from university so things are getting busy again, time to go.
Monday, January 14, 2008
A life well lived
Today has been an extra long day although it’s only 9 p.m. I spent the morning getting caught up on stats after the fit testing expert did not arrive due to the weather forecast and dealing with various crisis du jour. At least my cold made me sound worse than I felt so folks pretty much left me alone.
I headed over to the Manor about 1 p.m. to check up on Mom. Things were going down hill in a hurry and I elected to stay for the afternoon, as at first it appeared that she was in pain but actually was likely just frightened as she settled when I arrived. At 4:20 p.m. she slipped peacefully away as I held her hand and you really can’t ask for better than that when it comes to having lived a full almost 94 years.
With the major winter storm which was raging by 5 p.m. the life partner headed out to pick up daughter #1 from her carpool stop at Superstore and then headed in to retrieve me. As he said “with 2.5 hrs on dry pavement I’d be in Halifax with this much driving” describing the 4-wheel drive slog of usually two 20 minute drives. By the time we’d made it home and I conferred with my siblings the arrangements were made for the visitation on Thursday and memorial service on Friday. I’m not expected at work until Monday so the next few days will give me some space to draft a bit of a eulogy and hopefully recover a bit from this cold.
Must take my decongestant and head off to bed. Will be in touch as the dust settles.
I headed over to the Manor about 1 p.m. to check up on Mom. Things were going down hill in a hurry and I elected to stay for the afternoon, as at first it appeared that she was in pain but actually was likely just frightened as she settled when I arrived. At 4:20 p.m. she slipped peacefully away as I held her hand and you really can’t ask for better than that when it comes to having lived a full almost 94 years.
With the major winter storm which was raging by 5 p.m. the life partner headed out to pick up daughter #1 from her carpool stop at Superstore and then headed in to retrieve me. As he said “with 2.5 hrs on dry pavement I’d be in Halifax with this much driving” describing the 4-wheel drive slog of usually two 20 minute drives. By the time we’d made it home and I conferred with my siblings the arrangements were made for the visitation on Thursday and memorial service on Friday. I’m not expected at work until Monday so the next few days will give me some space to draft a bit of a eulogy and hopefully recover a bit from this cold.
Must take my decongestant and head off to bed. Will be in touch as the dust settles.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
What's been going on
As you might have noticed I have not been very diligent about updating the blog lately. And no, it’s not because things are more frantic than usual. With the usual rhythm of this house there are times in the past almost year since I’ve started this blog which would be hard to match for frenzied activity. A number of issues have conspired to take my creative (and other) energy over the past week or so.
Work has been particularly high pressure for the past few months with one team member off, another under the weather for a few days, vacation by a third and the holidays in addition. The pace of the workplace has increased due to a new team leader which means almost starting over on many levels as well as a high patient census and acuity. Some unexpected lab results and the looming accreditation process caused a peak in frenetic activity last week. None of these promises to settle for at least six months. And tomorrow there is fit testing scheduled (N95 masks not cardiovascular workout thank goodness) at our workplace.
There is another major winter storm predicted for the next two days, which will make the trips back and forth to gainful employment a challenge. Good to have a hook up with someone who has a 4wheel drive at times like this. I noticed him tweaking up his plow for the front of the ATV this afternoon in the weather breeder we had of 12c and balmy sunny skies. I had planned to host a scrapbooking evening tomorrow here but the weather forecast has caused us to reschedule. A small bonus is that the imposed deadline of today on the in-house carpenter for floor repair was met.
But dealing with my mother as she gradually declines after her fall and fractured hip has drained my energy. This is not an unexpected development for someone in her frail state and advanced age but is taking a good deal of my attention. It is also causing some confusion in the travel department as it has finally registered with the life partner that he may be traveling solo in 16 days to Cuba. I will wait to see but it’s unlikely I’ll be free to leave. So I haven’t been particularly engaged in the planning process and because I am the organized part of the traveling duo this is causing some difficulties. Also only one person and therefore half of the baggage allowance traveling will mean some shuffling/reduction of gifts for Cuban friends.
This afternoon I played hooky from all my adult responsibilities and went to a writing group session. I was online and didn’t check messages before leaving so arrived at my writing buddy’s door to find him not accompanying me. By then I was already out of the house and pointed in the right direction so carried through. There was an eclectic collection of about a dozen writers and we did some exercises to produce pieces, which artists will choose to paint. Will be interesting to see what they come up with for our offerings.
Off to prepare for work in the a.m. beginning with finding my winter boots which have made it to the back of the closet with our mild weather. I leave you with the following sent by my birthday twin:
Remember...a layer of dust protects the Wood beneath it. 'A house becomes a home when you can write 'I love you' on the furniture.' I used to spend at least 8 hours every weekend making sure things were just perfect - 'in case someone came over' Finally I realized one day that no-one came over; they were all out living life and having fun! NOW, when people visit, I don't have to explain the 'condition' of my home . They are more interested in hearing about the things I've been doing while I was away living life and having fun. If you haven't figured this out yet, please heed this advice. Life is short. Enjoy it! Dust if you must ....... but wouldn't it be better to paint a picture or write a letter, bake cookies or a cake and lick the spoon or plant a seed, ponder the difference between want and need?! Dust if you must, but there's not much time . . . . with beer to drink, rivers to swim and mountains to climb, music to hear and books to read, friends to cherish and life to lead. Dust if you must, but the world's out there with the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair, a flutter of snow, a shower of rain. This day will not come around, again. Dust if you must, but bear in mind, old age will come and it's not kind. . . And when you go - and go you must - you, yourself will make more dust! It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.
Work has been particularly high pressure for the past few months with one team member off, another under the weather for a few days, vacation by a third and the holidays in addition. The pace of the workplace has increased due to a new team leader which means almost starting over on many levels as well as a high patient census and acuity. Some unexpected lab results and the looming accreditation process caused a peak in frenetic activity last week. None of these promises to settle for at least six months. And tomorrow there is fit testing scheduled (N95 masks not cardiovascular workout thank goodness) at our workplace.
There is another major winter storm predicted for the next two days, which will make the trips back and forth to gainful employment a challenge. Good to have a hook up with someone who has a 4wheel drive at times like this. I noticed him tweaking up his plow for the front of the ATV this afternoon in the weather breeder we had of 12c and balmy sunny skies. I had planned to host a scrapbooking evening tomorrow here but the weather forecast has caused us to reschedule. A small bonus is that the imposed deadline of today on the in-house carpenter for floor repair was met.
But dealing with my mother as she gradually declines after her fall and fractured hip has drained my energy. This is not an unexpected development for someone in her frail state and advanced age but is taking a good deal of my attention. It is also causing some confusion in the travel department as it has finally registered with the life partner that he may be traveling solo in 16 days to Cuba. I will wait to see but it’s unlikely I’ll be free to leave. So I haven’t been particularly engaged in the planning process and because I am the organized part of the traveling duo this is causing some difficulties. Also only one person and therefore half of the baggage allowance traveling will mean some shuffling/reduction of gifts for Cuban friends.
This afternoon I played hooky from all my adult responsibilities and went to a writing group session. I was online and didn’t check messages before leaving so arrived at my writing buddy’s door to find him not accompanying me. By then I was already out of the house and pointed in the right direction so carried through. There was an eclectic collection of about a dozen writers and we did some exercises to produce pieces, which artists will choose to paint. Will be interesting to see what they come up with for our offerings.
Off to prepare for work in the a.m. beginning with finding my winter boots which have made it to the back of the closet with our mild weather. I leave you with the following sent by my birthday twin:
Remember...a layer of dust protects the Wood beneath it. 'A house becomes a home when you can write 'I love you' on the furniture.' I used to spend at least 8 hours every weekend making sure things were just perfect - 'in case someone came over' Finally I realized one day that no-one came over; they were all out living life and having fun! NOW, when people visit, I don't have to explain the 'condition' of my home . They are more interested in hearing about the things I've been doing while I was away living life and having fun. If you haven't figured this out yet, please heed this advice. Life is short. Enjoy it! Dust if you must ....... but wouldn't it be better to paint a picture or write a letter, bake cookies or a cake and lick the spoon or plant a seed, ponder the difference between want and need?! Dust if you must, but there's not much time . . . . with beer to drink, rivers to swim and mountains to climb, music to hear and books to read, friends to cherish and life to lead. Dust if you must, but the world's out there with the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair, a flutter of snow, a shower of rain. This day will not come around, again. Dust if you must, but bear in mind, old age will come and it's not kind. . . And when you go - and go you must - you, yourself will make more dust! It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
I'm a star
Well the workweek turned out to be a bit more exciting than I’d anticipated. Who’d have thought this would be my big break as a media star? Since a presentation was needed for a site which is a 2 hr. drive each way when the weather cooperates the suggestion was made to telebroadcast the session. This required a bit of organizing of equipment and personnel making for a frantic Thursday afternoon. I made a post work wardrobe trip to Frenchy’s after consultation with a colleague fashion advisor – not white it washes you out, black is too heavy, nothing with a bold pattern, nothing too bulky – kind of left only a pink sweater which was waiting for me there. When I wore lipstick on Friday I received a number of questions as to what I was up to from coworkers– they’re lucky I didn’t tell them to talk to my publicist. The session went well despite some minor technical difficulties. I told them that my husband had commented that being able to talk for two hours straight with no one to talk back was my kind of fun. It was a good learning experience and will look good on my cruise speaking/post retirement resume.
I also came home to find two lovely bar stools in the kitchen which are just the
right height, have a foot rest and are good for extended perches. As you can see Gary approves of them as well. He’s taken to looking out through the bars in the back as if he’s incarcerated much like the kids used to when they were contained behind the ‘child safety gate’. Reminds me of one of a list of stress management exercises where you are instructed to look through the tines of a fork at folks who are driving you nuts and imagine them behind jail bars - works for me.
I took the Christmas decorations down from around the house today, which is always a sort of melancholy time as I really do enjoy the holidays. I was encouraged to do this by a 5:30 a.m. rude encounter where the man of the house bounded from bed, turned on the light and snatched a small rattly apple tree ornament, which the cats were playing soccer with behind the door away from them and stomped back to bed. Good to be a deep sleeper but a bit of a challenge to process all that from unconscious to full stomp in a few seconds.
Now for some of you who are more Martha Stewart-like than moi I provide the following link to 12 Kitchen Tips:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/12-tips-to-simplify-kitchen-life.html
But in this house the smile of the week was the note the cleaning lady wrote saying it was time to retire the mop – did she sincerely believe that I have EVER looked at the mop except for when I bought it for her?
I also came home to find two lovely bar stools in the kitchen which are just the
right height, have a foot rest and are good for extended perches. As you can see Gary approves of them as well. He’s taken to looking out through the bars in the back as if he’s incarcerated much like the kids used to when they were contained behind the ‘child safety gate’. Reminds me of one of a list of stress management exercises where you are instructed to look through the tines of a fork at folks who are driving you nuts and imagine them behind jail bars - works for me.I took the Christmas decorations down from around the house today, which is always a sort of melancholy time as I really do enjoy the holidays. I was encouraged to do this by a 5:30 a.m. rude encounter where the man of the house bounded from bed, turned on the light and snatched a small rattly apple tree ornament, which the cats were playing soccer with behind the door away from them and stomped back to bed. Good to be a deep sleeper but a bit of a challenge to process all that from unconscious to full stomp in a few seconds.
Now for some of you who are more Martha Stewart-like than moi I provide the following link to 12 Kitchen Tips:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/12-tips-to-simplify-kitchen-life.html
But in this house the smile of the week was the note the cleaning lady wrote saying it was time to retire the mop – did she sincerely believe that I have EVER looked at the mop except for when I bought it for her?
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Small pleasures
Today’s return to work was as expected – frantic – but at least we had rain instead of the snow the northern end of the province received. Today someone had posted the link below and I loved the mask – think I’ll try it for tomorrow:
http://www.happyworker.com/
Just look under random fun there on the left and click on the picture. I also enjoyed the shirking work and living longer article. Gotta have your small pleasures.
When I checked the voice mail messages at home today there was a message from a local furniture store saying that the bar stools, which we’d, ordered before Christmas were in. Now if I was married to someone with a great memory I’d say to myself ‘he was trying to surprise me’ but today I just put it down to ‘he ordered them and forgot to tell me’. However the man of the hour states he was trying to surprise me and actually ordered them early in November, which for Mr. Procrastinator is the equivalent of a year early for the holidays. This in addition to the new mattress he picked up before Christmas at the other local furniture store as I mentioned we needed a new one and they were moving so had great sales. He thought I wouldn’t notice so exchanged it and made the bed up again but… the fact that it was about 12 inches higher gave it away. That and the fact that it’s like one of those heavenly beds you pay big bucks for at a swank hotel.
Tonight Gar
y watched with interest as his masseuse got a haircut with the new Christmas gift clippers – am guessing the cat wouldn’t find a trim as much fun as the massage. Well actually the impatient customer couldn’t wait and had to demo
nstrate how it’s done. One of the more relaxed felines we’ve ever had – Gary getting a massage – he thought this was great and was disappointed when it stopped.
http://www.happyworker.com/
Just look under random fun there on the left and click on the picture. I also enjoyed the shirking work and living longer article. Gotta have your small pleasures.
When I checked the voice mail messages at home today there was a message from a local furniture store saying that the bar stools, which we’d, ordered before Christmas were in. Now if I was married to someone with a great memory I’d say to myself ‘he was trying to surprise me’ but today I just put it down to ‘he ordered them and forgot to tell me’. However the man of the hour states he was trying to surprise me and actually ordered them early in November, which for Mr. Procrastinator is the equivalent of a year early for the holidays. This in addition to the new mattress he picked up before Christmas at the other local furniture store as I mentioned we needed a new one and they were moving so had great sales. He thought I wouldn’t notice so exchanged it and made the bed up again but… the fact that it was about 12 inches higher gave it away. That and the fact that it’s like one of those heavenly beds you pay big bucks for at a swank hotel.
Tonight Gar
y watched with interest as his masseuse got a haircut with the new Christmas gift clippers – am guessing the cat wouldn’t find a trim as much fun as the massage. Well actually the impatient customer couldn’t wait and had to demo
nstrate how it’s done. One of the more relaxed felines we’ve ever had – Gary getting a massage – he thought this was great and was disappointed when it stopped.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Years
A photo of the New Years Eve festivities of last night just to prove how much fun we had until 3 a.m. which seemed like a good idea at the time but when it was time to get up this morning, not so much. We enjoyed a fondue beginning at 9 p.m. and the menu featured beef, pork and lobster, which we cooked in oil and French bread in a cheese fondue – yum. Dessert (as you can see) was a chocolate fountain with strawberries, pineapple, cantaloupe, banana, and oranges dipped in dark chocolate. A great way to start off the New Year. 2008 – hard to even believe that’s the date I’ve just typed.
After taking down the tree, cleaning up the mess and putting away all the gifts I am now having to get my head around getting ready to go back to work tomorrow. Why doesn’t it feel like you’re off ten days but sure feels like you’ve worked ten eh? I did manage to get some scrapbooking done and a bit of organizing in the extra time. One positive is that there are only three days until the weekend, but I’m confused as it feels like this week has had three Sundays – not complaining, I’m just saying. I’m sure that tomorrow will remind me that I’ve been off ten days too as once the holidays are officially over all those waiting will be standing by the door. The cell phone has rung pretty steadily the past few days so that’s a good indication I won’t be bored. If only 2008 was the year I was planning on retiring, well that is a bit too ambitious, maybe I meant beginning to work NOT full time.
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