Starting a new week...

Well, this past week has been a real write off for me. I caught some sort of dumb virus that had me laid up in bed for the majority of the week.  I was woosy and off balance with episodes of severe vertigo.  Needless to say, nausea was also involved...spinning rooms = nauseated Alanet.  Friday things started to clear up quite quickly.  I am convinced the reason my health returned so suddenly was that the Lord needed me to be available to care for Sheila's residents while she tended to her mom.

My husband's former wife has pancreatic cancer.  It's been a very difficult situation for everyone involved.  Sheila has literally been killing herself trying to care for her mom and be there as much as possible.  Friday, her mom was released from the hospital (which in and of itself is a crime in my opinion!!).  Sheila spent the entire day and evening trying to get everything organized for her mom and get her settled down back at home.  It had to be an exhausting day for her.  She woke up on Saturday with a bad cold.  I think she has worn herself to a frazzle.  She really needs to be able to take some time and look after herself now so that she will be able to be there for her mom over the long term.

I've been trying to think of ways that I can be supportive to this situation and provide service and assistance to Joan.  I am the compassionate service leader in my ward at church so I did gather names and phone numbers of ladies who would be willing to take a meal over or be willing to sit with Joan when there is no family available.  I am also hoping to be able to make up a big batch of soup for her.  Right now eating is the last thing she wants to do but soup seems to be something she is able to at least stomach a little bit.  I thought if I could make up several servings and have them ready for her freezer, that should be of some help.

It is heartbreaking the suffering that this poor woman is enduring.  It makes me want to cry and she's not even my mother.  Nevertheless, the family dynamics are such that I feel she is very much a part of my family.  I have never had unkind feelings towards her and have tried my best to be considerate of her feelings over the years.  She is a good woman and doesn't deserve the trials she's had to face.

On a more cheerful note, I got to speak to my daughter today!!!  It's so fun hearing all about her adventures out in Calgary.  I am so glad she made that move and is having the time of her life.  It's hard not having her around and I miss her lots but knowing how happy she is makes it much easier to handle.

Tyson seems to be a bit under the weather yesterday and today.  I am hoping that it passes quickly and that he doesn't have to miss any school.

I was looking at some old videos of the kids from about 7 or so years ago.  What a hoot!!!  Tyson was so little!!!  It's amazing to me how much he has grown and changed over the past few years.  He is several inches taller than me now.  There were videos of Kayla and her high school friends goofing around that I was thinking would be really funny to upload on Facebook.  But, then I decided that wouldn't really be very fair.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get lots of cooking and cleaning done around here.  I always think that I'm going to get right into it and something comes along and spoils my plans.  I have a dental appointment at 10:30 to get my teeth cleaned.  Other than that, I think I should be able to get busy around the house.  It is really suffering and showing the lack of attention it has received lately. 

I'm looking forward to a good, productive and happy week!!!

Birthdays...

Well, today is my 44th birthday - it's hard to believe I'm almost half way through my 40's!!!  Normally I would be going out for dinner for my birthday but tonight I'm staying home.  My tooth is still very unhappy since my root canal on Monday and eating is not exactly enjoyable.  So, I told my hubby that I think we should wait a day or two and see how things go with my "tooth healing".  Doesn't make sense to spend all that money on a meal out, only to suffer through it!!

My coworkers in the office gathered around my cubicle and sang "Happy Birthday" to me and gave me a card.  It was really nice and fun!  Then I got a voice mail message from my dad wishing me a happy birthday and a voice mail from my daughter singing me Happy Birthday with her room mate singing back-up!  I also received many texts and facebook birthday wishes from friends and family.  All in all, a good day!!

It's a short work week this week because of Remembrance Day on November 11.  I have to say that I am truly grateful for the freedoms I enjoy and, shamefully, take for granted.  When I reflect upon the sacrafices made by so many so that I can have these freedoms and priviledges, it is so very humbling to me. I can't imagine not living this way.  So many in the world suffer and it is very heartbreaking to hear their stories.  I hope we all can take a few minutes on the day set aside to reflect and ponder the richness of our lives resulting from sacrifices made by others.

It is SNOWING!!!

Can we just all agree that although the first snowfall is pretty, it is not particularly happy since it is a sign that old man winter is here?  Winter is my least favorite season.  I suppose if I lived somewhere like Arizona it wouldn't be bad at all, but in Regina, Saskatchewan, winter is heartless!  It means plunging temperatures, huge snowfall dumps, icy winds and icy roads.  And, in Saskatchewan it last about half the year!!!  Oh well, on the positive side, in the prairies we also get beautiful sunny days, even though the temperature may be extremely cold.  I love the sun!!!

Thinking back to my childhood, I remember loving winter - the snow was so fun to play in and it meant Christmas was just around the corner.  Most of my growing up happened in Southern Alberta, where winters are much milder than they are here in Saskatchewan.  But, there were still some pretty cold days in there.  But as a kid, you appreciate and love all the seasons.  As an adult, I guess I have become somewhat jaded and much less enthusiatic about such things.

Today is my husband's birthday.  He is 69.  Yes, that's right, 69!!  Seems so crazy to me.  When I look at him I don't see age, I just see him.  I guess that's a good thing!!   We had his kids and grandkids over to the house yesterday evening.  Ordered in pizza for supper and then had ice cream cake from Dairy Queen for dessert!  I think a fun time was had by all - sitting around the kitchen table telling funny stories.  I am positive that Ray thoroughly enjoyed the time with family.  His son, Grant was in town with his 2 daughters.  It was nice for Ray to be able to celebrate with them.

It's Sunday today but I didn't go to church.  I really have been suffering quite badly with body aches and pains this past week.  Last night the pain was particularly intense as the snow was coming.  I'm like a human barometer.  Any weather changes and my body screams at me.  They call it Fibromyalgia.  I call it misery.  Today I will rest and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.  Well, actually it might not be all that great since I will be starting the day off with a root canal... oh well, I'm sure tomorrow afternoon will be wonderful! ;)

Oh Happy Day!!!

Today is a good day!!!  My daughter, Kayla, who moved out to Calgary right after Thanksgiving weekend, finally was offered a job!  She is so excited!  She will be working at a place called Calforex.  Apparently it is some sort of foreign exchange company.  I don't really understand it all but something about when businesses do international transactions, they need foreign currency...something like that.  She will be doing admin work and customer service.  Apparently there is oppportunity to earn commissions or bonuses in addition to her base pay.  I'm happy that she will be earning a good living - and that I won't have to worry so much about her finances anymore! We have all been praying that she would be able to find work - so glad that prayer has been answered!

I finished a week of training today.  I was in Emergency Design courses this week.  It's interesting stuff.  I'm not apt to use the operational emergency exercises in my job, but I suspect I will be drafting up some table top exercises.  I think it would be awesome to do the full-scale operational exercises, but for now, I think I will have to be satisfied with discussion-based ones.

Tyson went for his first drive this week.  He said that he scored 8 out of 11.  Not too bad for a first run!  He also went out practicing with my dad.  Tomorrow I will take him to The Centre of the Arts parking lot and have him practice turns and stops.

Ray has been battling a cold for qutie some time now.  He is in his fourth week of it!  I wish he could get rid of it already!  Poor guy - it's been a long haul!

Tomorrow is Saturday so I expect I will be meeting up with my mother at some point.  We normally go for lunch on Saturdays.  Tomorrow however, I have a hair appointment at 11:00 so I'm not sure if we will be going for lunch or not.  I'm getting a cut and color - long overdue!!!