Gimme All Your Lovin'

Grabbing a few moments before I head out to watch the first game of the grandson’s ball tournament this weekend. Each team is guaranteed two games so Friday evening and Saturday morning are on the calendar. Will be good to catch up on his review of grade three thus far. 

Last week was a busy time of hanging out with my granddaughter while her mother set up the French Immersion grade primary classroom she’ll teach in until November. We had a great time on our urban field trips to playgrounds, library, friends, duck pond etc and I am missing my little buddy. On Saturday we managed a three generation girls morning and had pastries at Two if By Sea cafe, then took in the Farmers Market on the waterfront, picking up local corn, blackberries and blueberries ahhh. I managed to spend some time visiting with a friend who is a bit under the weather and this made for a full but well spent trip. I accomplished a number of projects I’d set out for myself including crocheting a mobius shawl for my friend and one for my daughter, a crown to go with the Supergirl costume, sewing curtains for the nursery, yarn shopping and some which were assigned to me such as assisting with classroom materials prep. Not too shabby considering the heat and humidity were at peak measurements. But first an end of August recap. 

We managed our extended weekend getaway to Ottawa/Montreal and a great time was had by all. Good thing the grandson is a calm traveller as we landed with a firm bang, bounce and then quick reversal of engines in Ottawa on Friday morning. I’d just looked out the window and thought ‘we’re coming in at about double speed of what we usually do’ and apparently we were. Northern pilots wouldn’t have been amused with that landing. We were picked up at the airport by our oldest daughter and enjoyed a great brunch, settled our things at her place, then the shore captain and I headed off for an overnight in the daughter’s car while she and the grandson hung out. Due to rainy

ZZTop at age 70...woohoo

weather they enjoyed the afternoon/evening at Funhaven an indoor park which included laser tag, bowling, rides and more.  The old folks braved the traffic down to Laval and took in ZZTop at Place Bell. It was a wonderful evening from the meal at the hotel, the immigrant Uber drivers to and fro the venue and the event itself. The Damned Truth (rock n roll band from Montreal) opened for ZZTop and were a great start. The travel partner commented that Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill “didn’t spin their guitars like they used to” and I had to point out their advanced age. Not to mention that I’d never noted the drummer’s name is Frank Beard and ironically he is the only clean shaven band member. More to the point is that these three (plus one who died five years ago) are original members from 1969. That is impressive in the throw away world of rock music. The weather cleared for the remainder of our travels and we enjoyed a lovely buffet breakfast then back out on the highway to Ottawa. You would think an early Saturday morning run would be straight forward but until Mirabel it was nuts! Who would expect a complete standstill on a four lane highway?

We spent a great weekend as tourists indulging in the Greek Festival a showcase of all things

Fireworks competition

Greek including a delicious meal, music and dancing. A stroll and meals in Byward Market, then wonderful fireworks over the river. We visited the Canadian Agriculture & Food Museum aka experimental farm in Nepean and it’s a wonderful spot for kids - they were hosting summer camps and birthday parties from the ads. Lots of critters, plants and things to learn - the gentleman farmer felt he’d done well while comparing crops. We took in Northern Lights on Parliament Hill which tells our history in a great light show projected on the centre block of the parliament buildings. Lots of new Canadians enjoying the outing. In the three years it’s been running over 1 million have attended. Our final day was a stroll along the Rideau Canal, a visit to Little Italy with a great lunch and being dropped off at the airport. A few tears, a seamless checkin, uneventful wait, flight, drive home and immediate bedtime.

The grandson stayed on for a few days to hang out with visitors next door. It’s a complete circle of life when the kid who used to babysit, drops her sons off to play with your grandson while she gets a haircut. Lots of shared interests including Lego, cars, swimming and archery so they amused themselves well. Good to catch up with their mother too on her annual family visit. 

We’ve enjoyed the pool all summer, especially with the warm, dry weather. In our area of the province, it’s close to the drought of two years ago with lots of wells dry or very low levels, folks showering at the provincial campground and using the laundromats. We’re being careful and the garden is being sustained by water transported from the fish plant. The lawn hasn’t required much mowing and in fact is brittle and dry. Sure could use a good long rain in this area. The zucchini continue to flourish and I’ve experimented with both zucchini brownies (delicious) and lasagna (delicious but required draining) in order to manage the harvest. The gentleman farmer has been freezing bags of tomatoes to use for future salsa and we are eating garden fresh daily. 

Had a nice visit with the former coworker who’s heading north to work as a homecare nurse. She had the usual packing, travel and contractual questions and I remembered my nervous excitement of six years ago. Surprised myself by how many of her questions I could answer without pondering too deeply. I’ve been in contact over the past two weeks as she immerses herself in the new culture and discovers the quirkiness of the north and recalled my own journey.  Am sure she’ll do just fine and they’re lucky to have her.  

The saga of northern nursing has continued and although I’ve i ignored it for the most part, the developments have reached beyond ridiculous. My former job share partner had resigned, her resignation wasn’t accepted, she was offered a ‘too good to be true’ position and rescinded her resignation, the job ‘unfortunately wasn’t available’ so she reinstated her resignation and opted for a casual contract with the neighbouring territory, the manager advised a replacement couldn’t be arranged (although a coworker was able to leave immediately) so her departure was prolonged several times and….the contract in Nunavut was held for a week or so but eventually was filled and since my buddy needs to work she now finds herself doing a casual contract with her former employer in…wait for it….the original community we worked in. Still hopeful for an indeterminate position with GN she is awaiting an interview. The summer season usually sees a mass exodus of HR staff and almost complete cessation of hiring. 

No further word from HR on my TB contract plan. A colleague suggested I contact one of the more likely to respond HR staff as she’d seen her in the airport flying in. I emailed yesterday  - it hasn’t yet elicited a response. Moving up the chain I’ll contact the Baffin managers by next week. I am particularly ticked off as a CHN coworker (without my infection control, tropical medicine, occupational health qualifications) was able to score a 4week TB casual contract in Baffin for mid September within 90 minutes. I’m looking at a January contract now as the October target has clearly slipped by with all this dysfunction. Although I’ve been working on this over three months I’m no closer to the goal and yes, there is a large nursing staff shortage in the north. 

Have been fortunate to find someone to houseclean and she does a wonderful job, equal to some former greats from over the years. She’s the third over the past six months and the others have only lasted a couple of visits, so fingers crossed. We’ve settled on every two weeks and work around her schedule at a local nursing home. Can actually think of inviting folks over with that part of the entertainment puzzle taken care of. 

Dropped in to a former coworker/neighbour’s for tea and a visit, had another in for the same and attended a nursing school classmate’s 90th birthday party this past week where former coworkers converged and caught up on life news commemorated with a lovely group photo. When I commented on the much younger lovely photo of my friend she confided it had been in her trunk and she’d planned it to be displayed for her wake then decided the party was also a great venue so she said “this is my wake/party you know” and I explained that there’d be lots of music, food, beverages and stories at any send off for the life partner and myself and she nodded in agreement. Speaking of himself….a coworker noted him with his white beard, sitting with a high school classmate (a home support worker of many years) and said “Sherry, you brought one of your clients with you to the party did you?” Our giggles increased when he (deaf as he is) said “whaaa?” Ahhh nurse humour I guess as mister wasn’t as amused. 

Meeting up with a buddy to take in music on the north shore the next weekend and perhaps put the final touches on our Rocky Mountaineer trip. Friday night is buffet and songwriters circle at Fox Harb’r resort which is an upscale spot….will have to review the wardrobe choices and perhaps a Frenchy’s run is in order. At $450 each for the one night, the reviews which state ‘phenomenal’ best be accurate. We’re moving on Saturday to Stomp at Jost vineyards in Malagash and more modest accommodation with room/breakfast at $120 for two. I’m planning to head out by 10am on Sunday to attend The Crochet Crowd Stitch Social in the valley that afternoon before heading in to the city. I’m scheduled with the granddaughter on Monday as a day the sitter isn’t available. Have pencilled in lunch that Wednesday with former coworkers. Will be an eclectic social calendar that week. Ahh the life of the semi retired.