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Friends

2012-02-12T18:05:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure if this will end up being more about loneliness or friends. I don't have any friends from my teen years, which I believe is uncommon. When I left school to start work it appears that I no longer existed to those I had called friends for six years. I did not spend much time with them away from school, other than Dione. Dione and I lived fairly close and on Saturdays I was often at her house. I don't believe she ever came to my house. Come to think of it I really can't remember any of my friends coming to my house to hang out. Dione's father took a job in London to be the Queen's head groom, so that was that.

I made one friend at my first job. I was the junior in the accounting office of David Cover's & Sons a hardware and lumber merchants. Actually that's not technically true; if friends mean hanging out with someone, then, no, I didn't have any friends from work. But I did invite one of the girls I worked with, Pamela Cartwright, to my wedding when I married David Patchett. It was great because she did come all the way from Chichester, W. Sussex to Oldham, Lancashire. We kept in contact for a short while but then she stopped writing, so that was that.

When I was 20 I entered the William Booth Memorial Training College in Denmark Hill, London to train to be a Salvation Army Officer. I had met a boy prior to going to the college, Colin Smith, and we became engaged but couldn't announce it to anyone as it was against the rules of the college. My Mum didn't like Colin until I broke up with him. Then she liked him. I broke up with him when I dropped out of training because of a nervous breakdown. That was the year the 1st year Cadets of the college had to stay out on their training positions until January (instead of returning the September before) to the college, as the cadet's houses were being renovated. I had made friends at college and a few kept in touch. But then eventually they stopped writing, so that was that.

Just to clarify, the above was before everyone and their dog had a phone.

My friends from then on were actually my new husband's friends. We were out most Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (yes, I had stopped attending Church. The reason: I blamed God for the hardships that I had encountered during my time in Middleton, Lancashire, as part of my training). So friends in Oldham were really David's friends. One of those friends came to Canada and wrote and told him he should come here as he would do a lot better here then staying in England waiting for 'dead men's shoes' (promotions in accounting fields usually by moving up when someone retired or died). So we sold up, packed up, and headed for Canada. Our friends in England kept up with us with letters for a few years, but they eventually stopped replying, so that was that.

We came to Canada and stayed with Peter and Pauline Johnson, David's friends, but not for long. You see, we had minds of our own and didn't follow their advice. We thought buying furniture was more important than getting a car on a loan. We could use the bus as the bus was only a couple of blocks away, so that was that.

David made a few more friends. I made one, who really became his friend more than mine, Rod and Izy Kier. But they moved out of Edmonton and so did we, so that was that. We made other friends, such as Aziz and Zeeny Karson. I believe they moved to Calgary, so that was that. As I look through my address book that I have had since I left England, I find many names in there. Some I remember. Some I don't. So were they friends? Were they there when I needed them? Probably not, so that was that.

We moved out of Edmonton to live in a new housing estate in Gibbons, Alberta. As more neighbours moved in we made new friends. This was a great neighbourhood. We had parties at each others homes. We had our children at the same time (give or take a month or year or two). I had Evette when we lived in Gibbons. We chose friends of David's that he had met. David and Margaret Hughes to be Evette's God parents. We lost contact with them. The friends in Gibbons? Well, we had to move back to Edmonton to be close to a hospital, as I was having complications during a pregnancy. Contact with them was broken, so that was that.

I've made temporary neighbour-friends over the years but as our lives move on, so do they; and contact is lost. When David chose to walk out on the children and I, many of our friends moved on to. Except one. I chose to go back to school. The plan was: I would go to school, raise the children and receive child support and alimony, for four years until I finished my degree. Things never work out how you think they will. Of course I made friends at Concordia College, my own friends this time. I had them over to my home. I visited them at their homes. We participated in college activities together. I was part of the Worship Committee and Mature Students group for the four years I was there. Surely I should have friends from those days. But no, just one. And I married him. Actually I had a few friends (or Richard and I) had a few friends and we sort of keep in contact. We call them friends but a friend is someone who sticks by you regardless of the choices you make, or the lessons life sends your way. A true friend is always there. Most fall off by the way, so that is that.

Life has thrown many a curve ball my way and over the years I have been very lonely. There came a time when my body and mind could take no more and I had another nervous breakdown. Where were my friends then? Richard stood by me during this very difficult time. I had two other friends I could count on, or so I thought, but during a phone call to one that week of my breakdown, I was told that I was to no longer phone, as she found it difficult to continue our friendship since her husband was now friends with my ex. My other friend, I guess I should say Richard's and my friend, she was a lot younger than us, but very mature for her age. Or so I thought, until the week of my breakdown a letter came telling me to not contact her anymore, so that was that.

What do you do when you loose friends? People have come and gone from my life on a regular basis and now as a Pastor's wife it is even harder. How do I make friends with members of the congregation? These are not real friendships as a rule. I had a dear friend in one parish. But a few months after we moved to a new parish she passed away. I was absolutely devastated. Eunice was like a sister to me. She was there when I had my leg amputated below the knee. She spent a week in Regina just so she could visit me everyday, when I was so sick. She washed me, washed my hair, made me laugh, gave me a little cat ornament that looked like Katie, so I wouldn't miss her so much. Once I was released from hospital, Eunice went with me to just about every appointment. When I went to get my leg fitted and be taught how to walk with a prosthesis, she visited me. Then every fitting and adjustment and new leg, Eunice went with me. Why didn't Richard? Because he couldn't keep taking a day off almost every week to drive to Regina for me to have an appointment. Eunice was more than a friend. She became my sister. A sister in Christ who stuck by me during a trying time. I'm not sure I will ever find another Eunice. I thank her from the bottom of my heart for being more than a friend. I have others who have been parishioners and now keep a bit in contact for a few years, so that is that.

By now you're probably thinking, but what about family? Family is only as close as you live near them. For years I sent cards and gifts and made phone calls, especially at Christmas. As the years went by the letters stopped coming, so did the cards and the phone calls, so I stopped sending cards as often. Other than phoning my mother most weeks, I rarely phone anyone else. So are my family members also my friends? I would have to say no. Maybe if I still lived in England, it would be different. But I live in Canada, it's a case of out of sight, out of mind, so that is that.

As a pastor's wife in a city that only has one Lutheran Church~Canada (LC~C) congregation I don't have the advantage of those pastor's wives who live in Cities where there is more than one LC~C congregation. Just like in the many small towns where pastors wives are some distance from other LC~C pastor's wives. We were in one circuit and we were lucky because we met as a complete family unit. Each pastor brought his wife and children to the Winkles once a month, some had to stay over to head home the following day. It was a great circuit, we were there for each other, yes we were friends. But Pastor's receive Calls and move away, just as we did, and that wonderful friendship and support is gone, so that is that. There are very few circuits to be found like the Assiniboin circuit and even that one is no longer like it was. So that is that.

Don't get me wrong I do have friends. I have, over the years of struggle being a Pastor's wife, had the privilege of knowing that no matter what the problem I can phone Murial. No I haven't chatted with her for some time but we are friends who can pick up where we left off last time we chatted. I have Jill, now I've never met Jill, she lives in South Africa, but we are collaborators on my hobby, the BOXALL (and variant) One Name Study (ONS) World Wide. When things are tough and my work on the ONS appears to take a back seat she understands and continues the work. We will meet one day, when? I don't know but I believe that she is a friend.

I have another friend (actually Richard and I have friends) they live in Greenfield, Milwaukee. The first time we went to the Catechetical Symposium in Sussex, Wisconsin they opened there home for us to stay one night. Of and on since that time we turn up in front of their home in our motor-home and become neighbours for a week. Actually we become part of their family for a week. We weren't able to go last year and this year looks the same. We follow each others lives by reading the others blog and Facebook page and yes they are friends.

A Work in Progress

2012-01-15T20:20:00.001-06:00

I promised a blog today but I'm sorry it's still a work in progress. I don't think it's finished yet, so I'm going to let it sit for a day or two. But, there will be a new posting this week. The title 'Friends' at least at the moment that's its title.

Before & After

2011-12-11T18:39:00.001-06:00

I just spent time catching up with my friends blog and one of her postings reminded me of something that I was going to post quite sometime ago. The trouble was I wasn't happy with the pictures after they were taken.

I have just looked at them again and decided well this is me, this is what I do six out of seven days a week sometimes all seven. Now most times we don't look at people as close as these pictures are, but this is me.

Those that know me will know that I am self conscious of my receded lower jaw line, due to bad dentistry when I was in my early teens. The dentist said I should have my back permanent molars removed to give me room in my mouth. The only thing that did was to stop my jaw from growing in proportion to the rest of my face. My teeth are crooked due to my jaw problems and wearing a lower splint 24/7 for a couple of years to save my mandibular joint, as I have TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder). I now only wear a splint at night just in case I grind my teeth. I also now have very noticeable tilt to my head due to being rear ended twice in one week in 1989.

This is me when I first get up in the morning (my hair is not layered now) at least my hair was like this a few months ago. My face always looks like this. No eyelashes to talk off, spidery blood vessels around my nose and the shadows under my eyes. I must say though my hair is my own colour, it does not come out of a bottle. It does look darker than actually is in this picture but the grey doesn't really show, what grey I have. I don't like this look so every morning depending on what I am wearing I use a selection of these product.

The three products at the back I use after washing my face; a toner, eye serum and moisturiser. The others are the ones used on this particular day, it looks like I was wearing purple that day. The only item I never wear is lipstick, I may in the winter, wear a coloured lip gloss.

Now I could have chosen any other one of these products, it depends on the clothes that I wear. I've changed a few items and added some other items, but not much has changed since these pictures were taken.

This is me now ready for work or Church or just to go out. A few years ago Evette told me I wore too much make up. Maybe she is right. But my nose is not red, the shadows under my eyes are gone, I have eyelashes and my hair has a small curl to it.

Laura you reminded me that I had done these pictures months ago.

Out with the old! In with the new!

2011-12-11T16:24:00.001-06:00

OK, so I've talked on Facebook a lot about our new boiler system, but it's one thing for me to talk about it but if you don't know what I'm on about, it is hard to grasp the concept of what is involved, the cost and the difference from the old to the new. That being said I thought I should post pictures of the old system that was, yes was, in the house when we moved in and the new system.

Now we had hoped the boiler would last at least for this winter if not next. As it is a costly endeavour to replace, but when we called for a service on the boiler the repair man informed us the system was not worth paying to have it cleaned and serviced, at least two sets of burners were no longer working and the others did not look much better. Actually when they moved the old boiler the burners were disintegrating to say nothing of the rest of the machine.

Now remember we want to try and keep the house as authentic as we are able and can afford, that meant taking out baseboard (skirting board) hot water fin heaters and putting back radiators that are almost or are 100 years old, no way we can afford to purchase reconditioned ones or new cast iron radiators.

This is the old boiler, now it is small considering what is the norm for these older houses. This unit was built in 1956 (the plumbers found a date on the unit) and was installed in 1957 (we found the original tag tied to one of the pipes). As you can see the bottom section where the burners are is pretty grungy, and very sooty and mucky.

The red item is the pump that circulates the hot water, as you can see it is really mucky with lots of oil leakage onto the basement floor.

This round section and another one further down is where they need to connect the new system, because it depends on where they could tie in as to how much the final bill will be (we don't have it yet as they haven't finished). You will see later that they did manage to tie in the new system to these areas.

This is the hot water tank which really didn't need to be replaced, but we understood that if we were putting a new boiler in then we should put in a dual system. One that heated the hot water heating system and would also give us hot water on demand and save on our gas bills because we would not be keeping this large tank constantly hot.

This is what the hot water heating pipes look like in the ceiling of the basement. Where you see the blue pipe connecting to the copper is where the plumber replaced the last piece (at least we believe it is the last piece) of galvanised household water piping that was still in use. The plumber had run out of red pipe for hot water but said it was just the colour that was different so he used what he had, blue, we just have to remember that that is a hot water connection.

This, for anyone who is interested, is an old Hillman gas space heater that heated the basement. All the radiator pipes are in the ceiling and as heat rises you end up with cold feet, when we are down where our TV is located. This heater is also being disconnected and removed and we are putting a radiator on it's own line in the TV room.

This is the new system it has (I believe) three pumps and pipes galore. You don't know when it is running as it is very quiet. At lease it is now, the old radiators introduced some crud into one of the pumps so it was making a bit of noise the other night, I woke Richard up to go and check it for me.

Just another view to show you that that ugly big pump is now gone. So this small unit not only heats the house but also gives us hot water on demand.

And yes they did manage to hook it up to those round sections that the old boiler was hooked too which is great.

This is just one of the radiators we managed to find and purchase. It weighs a lot, I can't move it, I watched one of the young plumbers moving it and he had to walk it on those little legs that you see. This is the one in the basement. Now it appears to be hooked up but it is not working yet. This one will have its own thermostat control, especially for when I am down here working or watching TV. The radiators are dirty, didn't dawn on Richard to use the power washer to clean them off, but they are authentic with the age of the house. We are hoping this one does not leak. The largest of the four is in the master bedroom and I noticed today writing on the side which states 'leaks'. It will mean it will have to be disconnected and taken back to our source and hopefully she still has all the others and will let us pick a different one. Because these radiators have been taken out of another house, just a couple of blocks away from our own, we do not know until they are hooked up if they leak or not.

These four radiators we paid $700 for them. Richard went and got them, one at a time, in our vehicle and brought them into the house placing them in the rooms where they would be hooked up; at least three of them. The fourth one, which is the one that leaks, he strapped to the appliance dolly and walked home with it, that one he had to get help with getting it upstairs, needless to say he is a bit, no, very upset that that is the one that leaks. So if you are reading this and have one of these radiators and would like to give it to us, please let us know. I'm not sure if the lady we purchased them from will let us choose a different one once we tell her the reason why we want a different one.

I'm sure this saga of our radiators is not over yet.

Our Home (3)

2011-11-27T21:12:00.001-06:00

I believe it is about time I added some more pictures of our home. Where did we stop, I believe it was at the bottom of the stairs.

We have added the family pictures on the walls as you climb the stairs you will see our children and grandchildren. It really is time I had some updated pictures of not only the grandchildren but also our children. The last one I have of Ian is when he graduated from the RCMP and even that I had to print for myself, what is it with boys that they do not consider it important to have pictures taken?

This is our spare room, ready for visitors. Actually at this point in time the bed and floor are full of presents that need to be wrapped and sent out to the children for Christmas and various birthdays that we are rather late sending gifts for or early if we get things packed up before Dec 3rd, actually my guess is we will be late for Evette's birthday too. It's a good job our children are used to us always being late with gifts, it was so much easier the year they came to visit. On the wall you will see the crewel picture I made when my children were little and Creative Circle was the house party of the day. The smaller picture is one of my Mum's needle point scenes. And of course we still have Ian's rocking chair and his monkey, the other soft toy is Kegan's, a bit too big for Lynda to take home with her on the train.

Here we have Richards collection of singing and talking stuffed animals, a story behind each one and as you probably would guess a grandchild was thought of for each one. They can play with them when they visit\
.

Books and games, Evette I'm sure you recognize the mat on the floor. My ornament teddy bear collection is also in the spare room on that bookcase.

The view of the room from the door. This rug I designed and made when the children were young, as they would say, in the orange house.

And the light fixture in the spare room. I love all the old light fixtures that are still in the house.

Oops! I forgot to adjust the curtains. This is Richard's room. The picture on the wall is one of his Aunt Ger's it always reminds us of our stay in MacNutt.

While cleaning up the left overs from the prior owners Richard found this chair in the basement. After giving it a good clean and scraping of the splattered paint we ended up with a lovely green chair with a varnished seat. It goes great in this alcove that is the dormer window.

This is the built in dresser, it is great fun each draw is bigger that the one above it, it is built into the slop of the roof. The picture on the wall is one of my favourites that Landestreu and MacNutt congregations gave us, it reminds us of Landestreu church in the winter, this picture has a church in a field just like Landestreu. Richard has a walk in closet on the right.

On the left of the alcove is a cupboard also built under the roof line. There is no picture of the light fixture in this room as it is fairly modern, about 1980'ish.

This is the master bedroom, or suite as Richard calls it. The jug and bowl we found at a garage sale and thought it would go great in this house. The picture above the fireplace is called 'The Spider Web' which I've put copies on my blog in the past.

On the right of the bed is my 'walk in closet'. Richard found, at another garage sale, the really cute brass hook for my housecoat, it is a lady taking a bath. I think the print above the bed was a Value Village purchase, but it goes great in this room.

And of course the lovely old light fixture, I think this is my favourite one, well at least one of my favourites the other being in the media room.

This is me trying to work artistically with drapes that are too long. This room we generally call the 'boudoir room", (in the old fashioned meaning of the word), but at you see it's my ironing room. My dresser and the desk which I use to store my hair dryer etc, and my makeup. I now have a place for Evettes bronzed baby shoes and Ian's blue and white checkered baby shoes. Oh, and the sewing machine is in here because the desk is where I use it.

This is the 2nd room of the master bedroom, as you see it is the catch-all room. The cushions are from the parsons bench which I need to recover, I do have the material, now I need the time. In the left hand corner are items that belong to Evette and then there are various and sundry boxes with my craft stuff in them.

I think this light is in that last room, it is plastic but looks like glass.

Above this dresser is another of my Mum's needlepoint pictures. These are the ones she didn't want on her walls and I guess no one else in the family wanted them so I have them.

This little hall is outside the bathroom (on the right), great place to keep our supply of towels and the laundry hamper.

And of course this is the bathroom, the smallest room in the house, it is smaller than the bathroom in the basement.

And now we head back down stairs. Not sure I mentioned that all the floors on this level are pine. The original floor boards have been covered over, not sure if thier condition, so I doubt we will take the pine up, at least not for a good number of years.

I believe at one time there were probably three windows on that wall, but a door was added as the house was once a boarding home, or housing for nuns, it depends who you are talking too.

These are the pictures of Richards and my parents, grandparents and various other family members who happen to be in the pictures we have inherited from our families.

And the bottom of the stairs. One of Richards grandmother's dried flower pictures, a picture of him holding Kegan and Chase, and a 1905 German Confirmation certificate.

I'll have to check to see what's left to show you, I'm guessing just the basement. Soon I will post the rest.

Our Home (2)

2011-10-19T22:29:00.000-06:00

A few more pictures to show you all.

Isn't this lovely? Richard spent a good part of a day cleaning all the light fixtures and brought out the beauty of all the old light fixtures

We are now in the room off the Parlour, this is the far corner; two handy chairs and Grandpa Steene's piano bench ready and waiting for people to start playing games

Some family treasures on the shelves between the chairs; top shelf Lynda's early craft project and last years Christmas gift from her two boys; 3rd shelf contains gifts from Evette and Ian when they were youngsters.

This is the other end of the room and of course our nativity collection with the picture of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Bruce, Alberta where Richard was a Vicar.

The hall looking towards the parsons bench and a book-case with our photograph albums.

Richard's collection of Uncle John's Readers

The oil painting that Aunt Monica gave Richard and the shell animals made my his Grandma Emma Mensch

The vanity which will eventually be removed as will the sunken bath tub.

Oops... that's the wall in the hall again; three of my petit point pictures that I kept

Time I headed for bed. We'll take the stairs another day. I hope you enjoy seeing the items that make this house our home.

Our Home

2011-10-15T17:20:00.000-06:00

I know you have all been waiting for picture of how the house looks now we are settled so a few pictures to start with... just a few though I have to keep you in suspense. Actually there are loads of pictures so I will post a few at a time... I promise. All the picture were taken the evening before our Congregations Progressive supper and Home Blessings.

These first ones are the dining room

Finally my china is on display, Richard had never actually seen it.

We changed out the wall sconces and are so happy with these and our three miniature oil on wood paintings from Lithuania

Our Front Parlor

As you can see Wyneken likes our rustic coffee table with it's end cushions Katie will quite often take the other cushion

I was hoping the wood inlay picture above the fireplace would show but the flash reflected, we removed that awful fire screen and cleaned the old electric fire, which has no where to plug into.

My piano after a good clean and the water colour by Sir Wm Boxall, and of course Richard's container ready with his stuff for church in the morning.

The Kitchen hasn't changed much other than it's tidy and a bit more of the wallpaper has been pulled off.

The Old Jam Cupboard where it is meant to be.

The replacement light fixture which I like so much more than the other one that was in here.

And of course Katie's favourite place asking for food as usual, she isn't as fat anymore.

So there you are a few of the main floor rooms. I must say though we don't spend much time in them we are more often down in the basement where our actual 'living room' is. So I am hoping that all these pictures stay here on the download page they still show as downloading.

New Knee Brace

2011-10-15T16:16:00.000-06:00

Today began as usual with my late wake up call from my darling hubby, with my coffee and breakfast. While still in bed I eat my nutrition bar, a banana and drank my morning coffee and I usually phone Mum and have a chat. This morning Richard decided to grab a chair and visit with me while he worked out his day and told me what he had planned, that being done he left to continue on with his day and leave me to my phone call and breakfast. Today Mum must have been downstairs with the other residents, I left a message. Then I decided to touch base with my sister, Pat, had to leave a message there too. This is my regular Saturday morning, when we don't have be anywhere.

Today was a little different as I spent time feeling sorry for myself, shedding a few tears, and generally feeling miserable. What was different? Today I had to put on my new knee brace myself, unlike yesterday when I received said knee brace.

I guess this should begin with yesterday. After months of frustration for me and my doctor trying to get me an appointment at the City Hospital Rehabilitation department so I could get the correct papers signed for a new prosthesis.

Golly this is harder than I thought it would be to write.

My current prosthesis is over eight years old and is in a sorry state and requires replacing. It takes ages to get an appointment in Saskatoon, an appointment I should have had when I moved back to Saskatchewan in 2008, same as for the Cancer centre, but that's another rant. Anyway for months my Dr. has tried to get me into the system to get a new leg made. During all this I have seen an Orthopedic Surgeon about the pain in my other knee (left one) which is causing pain in that hip. He informs me that I have a detached ligament in my knee. What is generally called an ACL, you will often hear about professional athletes getting this injury and they get surgery to have it fixed.

I, on the other hand, am not a professional athlete or a teenager (yes they can have the surgery too) but an old lady who is also an amputee, as far as I understand from my Dr., will not be getting the surgery instead I have to get a brace. Those of you who follow my Facebook page will know that a basic brace does not work on me as my legs bend different from the average person. I have now waited at least two months to get a brace but once it was determined that I would have to have a custom made one it only took two weeks, yes two weeks.

While I was being measured etc. for the custom brace I was busy chatting as I am prone to do. I was telling John how I need a new leg, not the one he was measuring for the brace but the other leg. Oh, I missed stating that where they handle the braces they also make the prosthetics. So poor John had to hear all about how my leg needed replacing and that I could not get an appointment in Saskatoon for the Rehab. Dr. to fill out the requisition form. John said he was the wrong person to talk too but he had an idea.

After that I saw Lyle, one of the prosthetists, who checked out my current leg and agreed it was old and not in great shape and he wasn't surprised that I now have an ACL of the good leg, good because it is complete, where as the other one is generally known as a residual limb, part missing. Lyle heard my story and said he would caste me for a new socket and I told him that I did not have permission for a new leg, he told me not to worry he would work things out.

I left Saskatoon that day not only measured for a brace that they would bring to Prince Albert on the 14th, but casted for a new socket, and most importantly an appointment with the Rehabilitation Dr. in PA on the 14th. They fitted me in by using their schedule of appointments, so I could pick up my new brace and as the rehab. Dr. was going to be there too she would see me at the same time. Talk about people using the back door to help an old lady out. They pulled more strings than I can even begin to imagine.

Now getting back to today, I had watched John put the brace on as he explained it to me, and I read the directions on how to put it on this morning, but I couldn't do it, I used our phones to contact Richard in the basement to come and help me. By the time he got upstairs I was in tears. It's bad enough being a amputee and having to put on a prosthesis everyday, which of course I'm used to doing considering I've had one since October 2000. But now I also have to put this knee brace on every day probably for the rest of my life, unless the Orthopedic surgeon decides to do surgery and fix the ligament.

I start work at 8:00 each week day morning in order to get to work on time I have to get up at 5:30, I can't just get up, jump in the, shower, throw some clothes on do the hair and make up, make lunch, have breakfast and head to the office. Now on top of having to put on my prosthesis I also have to put on this brace. Maybe it shouldn't take all that extra time to get ready but as we get older we get slower and I have to use crutches when I don't have my prosthesis on, so it all takes time.

This knee brace has five straps that have to been tightened in a specific order, so I took a picture of me with the knee brace on... it's not a great picture because I was using the computer camera to do it, so here it is.

Not a great picture you can see that the top part of the brace is angled to compensate the way my knee bends. The first strap is the lower one which straps in the front, the solid part of the brace is at the back of the calf, then you do the top strap which is behind the thigh, while your doing those straps you have to ensure the brace is aligned correctly on the knee. Then you push the side hinges back and tighten the strap behind the lower part of the thigh, the last two straps are on the section below the knee which really has three parts the wider part across the leg is fastened tight and then the front strap and then the back strap. Now I have to be able to do this all while making sure the hinges on the side of the knee remain in the correct position.

Richard got cross with me because he said I should have made sure that John, the technician, made me put the brace on myself once he had done it and shown me, I didn't ask, and he didn't suggest it. Now these guys do this all the time the fit people with braces surely they would know to have the client show them that they can put this thing on properly, well he didn't and all I had to go on for Richard to help me was the written instructions and what I could remember yesterday.

It feels right I can't completely straighten my leg, which is good because they do not want me to be able to lock my leg straight as that would cause pain, damage, etc.

So there you have it, a prosthesis on the right leg and know a brace on the left. If anyone can give me ideas about where I can buy dress pants that are not tapered at the knee and wide enough to accommodate my new contraption let me know. I have an ugly pair of jeans that I got a long time ago from a jean store that have wide straight legs, but gape at the back when I sit, actually I think they are men's jeans but they seem to work. I know I have at least one pair of dress pants that should be OK. Other than that I shall be wearing skirts, which I do most of the time anyway even during the winter.

Thanks for listening, reading... if you made it to the end of this. I know just as I got used to wearing a prosthesis I shall get used to this but it is the pits, and it may not have happened if I had had a new leg two years ago.

Tomorrow Never Comes.

2011-08-12T21:42:00.000-06:00

Yes I know! I should have known better than say tomorrow I will... that was on July 8th it is now August 12th and we have done a lot. We have very little left to unpack and some of those boxes have not been unpacked for quite a few years.

Richard has been a real trouper I would say he has done 95% of the unpacking all while still doing his full-time work as a Pastor. That means I've only done 5% and mainly when I have needed something specific that I dig through a box to find that something, so while I'm looking I might as well unpack the box. As you can tell I've not looked for much. I guess I've spent the biggest chunk of time working in the yard. I work full-time at a desk Monday to Friday so once the week-end is here, weather permitting I prefer to be outside even if there are a ton of mosquito's this year.

Richard has sorted the garage as well as unpacked all the boxes inside the house. This was the first part of sorting as not all the boxes were unpacked yet and the motor home was still full when these pictures were taken.

Here he is helping me by chopping down that big old lilac shrub, tree, bush... not quite sure what you would call it at this point. I had removed a load of brunches that I could cut through with the trimmers. Richard enjoys swinging the axe, this lilac is now gone and be is working on chopping out the stump. The stones that I take from around the pond I will store where the lilac was, once the stump is gone. Which basically means my work on this pond has come to a standstill.

That branch just missed me, I guess I was a little too close. We placed all the branches over the fence along our property but in the back alley, we had no more room in the yard unless we left them on the lawn but it doesn't take long to kill grass when you have things on it, so over the fence until Ron could come and help take them to the dump.

I wasn't sure what this last picture was of but now I remember. Richard went to Sears to buy a lawn mower arrived home with, not only a lawn mower, but also a gas weed whacker and a garage organizer. They were all on sale and he can't pass by a sale especially if it is something he can use to make his life easier.

So there you have it. That is what Richard was doing while I cleaned ponds, cut down branches, hedges and moved stones about. Our little deck area is now finished this year and I have the small pond there working with a bamboo fountain. The stones are back and a few plants placed between them to fill the gaps. The snow on the mountain is still being pulled out, we used round-up between the deck boards and the weeds are just about gone.

More pictures will follow on some other tomorrow. As the house is basically box free and the garden is being dug.

More Garden

2011-07-08T21:14:00.000-06:00

Now to continue the garden tour.

There are about three different vines on the side of the shed and we are hoping one will be a grape. Then we have either gooseberry or current; they might be just too old to retain. Our one rose this year, which now doesn't have any petals left after Richard knocked them all off throwing the lilac branches over the fence. I have been discovering all these different plants as I cut back the over grown catoni- aster (sorry about the spelling) hedge. I will be cutting the hedge back more because there are parts that are dead and need to be removed to allow the healthy parts to grow up.

The pyramid planter we appear to have inherited the previous owners wanted it back but have not come to get it so if we still have it next year then we will fill it with plants. You can see a part of the hedge that is cut right back. To the left of this picture is another large maple.

Yes that is a wet dry vacuum, I used it to clean out the rest of the crud from the second water feature. This one is a lot larger and has waterfall and a fountain but I need to cut the hedge back and clean all the old decomposed leaves from amongst the rocks and also pull out all the young trees. I missed taking a picture of the 2nd maple but the last picture is a beautiful honeysuckle, but it has been allowed to become leggy I'm not sure how much pruning it will handle but I am going to try and cut it back.

This lilac has become so wild and was obscuring the water feature so I was slowly cutting out branches, it is going to be completely removed as it is not a pretty shrub.

A saskatoon bush that is a bit overgrown and has a lot of old wood that will need to come out this fall. We should have lots of berries as the blossoms were absolutely lovely.

Two piles of brush which is mainly lilac bush and a bit of the hedging that I have been busy cutting down.

Now I am back in the front of the house. We hate to cut the lawn because we have these blooming in it and it is such a shame to cut them off especially when we don't have very much in the garden yet.

This mess is in front, maybe next year it will have a whole new look. Daisy's that have gone wild, yarrow that grows like a weed, there are some delphiniums in the back and some red flowers. Earlier in the spring there were some primula, pansies and flowering chives. Central of this mess is a rotten tree trunk that. Richard will hack out with his axe.

So the half dead low growing cedars will be removed. There are three spruce or is it four, one will be coming down to give some of the other spruces a chance to grow back in and allow the elm and maples on the boulevard to grow back. What can I say about that final picture. In there are the two maples that I showed the tops of earlier two young, but very high, ceder trees and a dead mountain ash. Most if not all these will be coming down soon. We have a dog run back there too, this is the other side of the back deck. If we keep the dog run Ian will not have to worry about bringing his dog with him when he visits us.

So there you have it, all the uncared for trees, shrubs, flower beds and water features. Lots of work so any volunteers? Help especially trips to the dump with all the wood that is being cut down would be very much appreciated. What has Richard been doing while I've been working on the yard? Tomorrow I will show you just some of what he has worked on.

The Garden as of Today July 8th

2011-07-08T20:13:00.000-06:00

As I chatted with Lynda last weekend I was talking about what I was doing in the garden. She said it would be better if I had posted pictures of what our garden looked like. You have an idea about the inside of the house but not really anything about the outside. That being said when I was too tired to do anymore in the garden I took these pictures, you will see we have a lot to do.

These three pictures of delphiniums are in the front of the house to the left of the front door, I spent part of the day pulling thistles and some weeds from this flower bed. Actually there are as many weeds as there re delphiniums. In the second picture is a spirea.

That was full when I had had enough of pulling weeds in the heat. Having a white house means the sun reflects off and feels even hotter.

The day lilies are just beginning to bloom. These really need thinning out, under neath we have found iris and other varieties of lilies. As we walk up the side of the house you notice the peonies are almost finished. These I will not be digging up as they take a few years to come back to blooming profusely. The third picture in this series we are looking back and the 2 x 4's are lifting up the eaves troughing angled so the water would flow down to the downspout and not over flow and then seep into the basement. So Evette sorry I chuckled over your temporary fix of your eaves trough we have one of our own.

This series shows part of our back yard. The first picture is actually a small water feature that I am cleaning and resetting out to add my fountain. By the side of the pond is a small tree that grows with the branches bending over and growing toward the ground, it needs to be pruned. Also we are over run with goats beard, which is a ground cover that has infringed between the deck boards. Because the east side of our double lot drops off steeply the deck extends to the property line so the slope is usable. The last picture are my few annuals that I purchased on sale to add a bit of colour to the deck.

The first tree by the back porch is an elm, which we are not allowed to prune until early fall. Also at the bottom of this elm is some sort of fruit tree. Behind these is a very tall but contained lilac that will be cut at least half way down to encourage more blossoms next year. The second picture over the top of the back porch are the maples that have to come down as they are against the house and the roots are infringing into the basement walls.

This is our second yard. Against the garage wall are raspberry canes that hopefully will have fruit. Then we have an apple tree not sure what type or whether the fruit will be edible. What isn't shown are the trees behind the garage. Another apple that probably will never bear fruit so will probably come down. A small saskatoon bush and a bigger one hopefully these will bear fruit.

This would be classified as the bottom of the garden. The first picture shows our first pile of hedging that we cut late spring. The tree is one of the two large maples, and behind this tree are the two compost areas. Then the shed where Richard has been piling stuff we don't know what to do with yet.

I've run into a technical problem more pictures still to come.

June 2011 Relay of Life In Prince Albert

2011-06-11T20:15:00.000-06:00

This is my third Relay for Life, all of them here in Prince Albert. Each year has been decidedly colder this then was the coldest. Some of the pictures are not very good and a bit fuzzy but you will see why I've posted them.

Marg and Hilda have always collected me for this special time each of us being cancer survivors, added to our group this year was Dennis, Marg's Friend.

Yes we are as cold as we look. Marg and I had to wear medium shirts and they would never fit over our winter coats, Dennis and Hilda lucked out with XL ones.

As you can see the Relay Groups were dressed for the cold.

This is the youngest group the "Tiny Tots" I am always impressed that even the youngest children take part.

Sorry this is fuzzy, but there is no way I can run ahead to get a better shot. Vicki, a member of our congregation on the left holding the banner, put this group together. I think you can understand the reason for their name The Hot Knockers" by the many pairs of bras hanging from their banner.

There were many on the track early in the evening not just the relay groups but those who were staying to watch... I was taking a break but was getting very cold.

I always love to watch the lighting of the luminaries and then take pictures, especially the one on the slope that spells HOPE. The number of people on the track was beginning to dwindle as were the spectators.

Marg and Dennis out walking trying to keep warm... I had just finished another lap and sat down and wrapped myself in a blanket, I was frozen.

The tents that were very much needed this year for the relay groups.

Hilda coming to check on me.

Marg always buys a luminary for me and adds something special for me.

This year I purchased a couple, one for Marg for being such a great friend and one for Evette's Mother-in-Law Rosa (they messed up the name by forgetting her first name and added it afterwards).

Rosa if you are reading this, Jesus has paid the price for all sin even the one of cancer, it doesn't take it away but the promise is that Jesus has suffered for all the sins of the world.

I feel it is an honour to be able to walk with the Cancer Survivors each year and to remember those who have lost the battle.

The Day After Move Day

2011-05-22T15:39:00.000-06:00

I thought you would be interested in seeing what the house looks like at this very point in time. Some of the rooms actually have things that will be in that room.

The game room (library)

The living room

Dining room

Kitchen area

Parson's bench

More kitchen

3rd bedroom / guest room

Outside bathroom

2nd bedroom

To be extention to the bathroom

To be: walk in closet

The master bedroom

So ther you are the day after the move and what we have to now find places for and make rooms habitable. Richard is actually taking time now to work on our study/TV room. I'm falling asleep so I think I shall take a nap. Enjoy our mess!

Missed Character Features

2011-05-22T14:59:00.001-06:00

I promised pictures of the ceilings that make this a craftsman style house actually when it was built it was called a bungelow because the bedrooms are in the roof line.

This is the ceiling in the living room.

This is the kitchen ceiling... we were bored one day and started pulling the wallpaper off... there is another layer of paper under the painted stuff.

I think that is all I forgot to show you. We hate the light fixtures in the kitchen.

The Basement

2011-05-22T14:30:00.000-06:00

I know... who wants to see a basement of a house but if I'm going to show you our new home you have see where our office/study/TV room will be.

Not a great picture but this is the back porch... as you see it needs some work.

We turn from the back porch to face the rest of the stairs down.

Laundry area.. this washer and dryer is now in our old house and front loads are here.

The other side of the laundry area... the previous owner left us their fish tank

This is will be the office/study/TV room... basically the main room we will live in.

A three piece bathroom, so no need to run upstairs.

The boiler and water tank... and a small portion of work benches that will become our pantry.

There is another storage room and space under the stairs but not really much to see there.

So there you are the final piece of the tour.

Another Change

2011-04-11T18:09:00.000-06:00

I've taken Laura's advice and figured out how to change the background colour. I still like the dark colours for the main part but I agree with Laura that it looked very dark with the background a dark gray. I like the purple so does this look better?

Change is good... or is it?

2011-04-10T18:54:00.000-06:00

I thought it was time for a change and if I can't get to change by moving into our new home right away I decided to change the look of my blog.

So did I choose the right template? I think it goes with the dark wood of our new home so have gone with various shades of gray. And move back to almost the same set up that I had originally.

Let me know what you think.

Is there time to see upstairs?

2011-04-10T18:03:00.003-06:00

Although our new home is a bungalow it actually has an upstairs, but the upstairs is in the roof line so means lots of interesting angles in every room.

We begin at the parsons bench and move to the left and head up the stairs.

All the floors up here have new hardwood floors which means the original floors have been covered up.

This will be the guest room and we are planning to put the sink back into this cupboard top there is not at closet in this room so we will need to work something out.

Now we check out the second bedroom, there are two windows one is a dormer; this room has the cupboard that you can see and also:

A built in dresser, plus a large closet; we may knock through to the one in the master bedroom to give this room a walk in closet.

Across the hall is the master bedroom, what would a master bedroom be without a fire place.

See what I mean about the interesting angles.

To the right of the fireplace there is this door opening, and yes you do see another door on the right.

Remember this is all part of the master suite; let's check the first of these rooms...

This room was probably known as the sewing room (it has two storage cupboards) we are thinking of making this room into a walk-in closet come dressing room for me.

The other storage cupboard.

These two cupboard doors will have to be kept closed, there is access to part of the ceiling/roof line which I'm sure at least one of our babies, if not both, would love to explore.

Let's check the other master suite room.

Not a very big room so maybe the boudoir. Our plan is to see if we can expand the bathroom into this room so giving the master bedroom access to the bathroom without going out into the hallway.

The bathroom is not much bigger than a closet so please don't be shocked.

That's it... the bathroom... toilet one side of the room and sink on the other side with the bath against the wall. The bathroom does not have a door just a curtain across the opening.

This would have been the only bathroom in the house when it was built... how times have changed!

I'm sorry I forgot to show you the stairs!

It is wide with steps that my whole foot fits on. I love the two windows on the landing and the way the stairs curve around.

This is the view from those landing windows. The plan is to close the top of the dog run so Wynie and Katie can possibly go outside in the summer.

I know I missed many pictures that would have given, maybe, better views of those rooms, but I wanted you to see the angles of the ceiling in each room.

There will be more pictures as we start making our move to our new home.

I know... what about the basement?

Here is your teaser for next time...the next stairs that we will travel down... later!

Welcome to our new home

2011-03-26T19:05:00.002-06:00

Not quite a home yet as we need to move... for now we call it the house and where we live is our home.

Welcome! We will close the front door to keep the warmth in.

Yes this is the push panel on the inside door (probably a newer addition) and the older hardware.

The parson's bench, a nice place to sit and take off your shoes.

Yes, your eyes are drawn upwards to the 10 foot ceilings with their crown molding.

First let us head into the kitchen and put on the kettle.

(We are going to swap the range for the one in our home.)

From here we will head to the dinning room.

As we turn right to head past the front door into the living room.

You noticed the doors to the library. Although the fireplaces are wood burning the house is too old for us to use them so we will eventually change them to gas fires.

(There is a picture missing, sorry I forgot to show you the ceiling in this room.)

Not much to see other than a lot of wires, this has been used as an office but I believe we shall use it as our games room and set up our Wii to use here.

And of course the Ceiling

I'm sorry we have no chairs or table to sit and have that cup of tea. There is one other room on the main floor. When the house was built it would have been the breakfast room it is now a bathroom.

You may have noticed that the old radiators have been replaced in some of the rooms.

And of course what would a bathroom be if it didn't have a fireplace!

That is correct, when they changed the room to a bathroom with a sunken jet tub the fireplace was kept.

So there you have our main floor, I'm so sorry there isn't time to see upstairs but come again soon and we will tour the upstairs.

Oh I'm sorry, I see the Parson has found the parson's bench!

Thank you for visiting. The door knocker worked great so please feel free to use it again.

Surpise Delivery

2011-03-26T18:26:00.000-06:00

Thursday was my birthday. As a rule I don't have anyone come to the office and ask for me. I have a couple of clients that have brought more information but that's part of the job.

On Thursday I had two surprises, first Marg from church stopped by and gave me a bunch of daffodils for my birthday. Each year she says this is the last year she will be doing the Cancer Daffodil project, but once again this year she took it on and while delivering to those businesses that had ordered daffodils she brought me a bunch. That was such a lovely surprise. Then I had another delivery, Sylvia brought it down to my office and said "I think you have a delivery from your husband." but it wasn't from Richard but from my son Ian.

Aren't they lovely. I left them in my office and brought them home yesterday and they are now gracing our dinning room table.

The daffodils are beginning to open and are in with the flowers that Richard gave me on Tuesday and they are on the jam cupboard.

Now for a look at our new home...

2011-03-25T22:38:00.000-06:00

Oops... sorry that's the garage!

You have arrived at the front (that's if you arrive by car)

Oh no... this isn't the house either it's the garden shed!

(I really wanted to show the mound of snow by the side of the garage)

Now this is the house!

As you walk up the path to the front door this is what you see.

And I have to show you a closer view of that inviting door!

If you don't want to use the bell you can always use the knocker.

I can't wait until the warm weather is here; so I can refinish the door bringing it back to it's former glory.

Keep watching that door will open soon!

Living Room & Dinning Room Staged

2011-03-17T21:45:00.001-06:00

So I have finally managed to get pictures of the last two rooms of our home before we messed them up again.

Looking into the dinning room

The other side looking towards the fireplace

This is where we spend our evenings and where our babies spend their day

Here is another view of the kitchen and pictures of the basement now it's fixed up and cleaned.

The other side of the kitchen

The next lot of pictures are of the basement.

Laundry Room and tool collection

Cleaned up furnace room

Our main storage area in basement

The Pantry

The basement stairs clean and tidy

So that it is our home when we know a realtor is bringing someone to view. It took about a month to get it looking this good and is a lot of work keeping it this way.

We have purchased our new home and I have pictures to post for you to see... we have 90 DAYS not months to sell or we loose the option to roll over the mortgage into the new one without a large penalty.

The house is now staged

2011-02-13T18:37:00.000-06:00

So this is how our home looks now it has been decluttered, cleaned and staged. I still have to get pictures of the living room I guess it was a bit messy at the time I took these pictures. We did some room switching upstairs, the master bedroom is no longer the office the smallest bedroom is.

Those are of the master bedroom.

The blue room... the top sheet is now tucked back under the duvet and the cat blanket is on the corner.

A hard room to get a full picture of, the third bedroom know the office (it did have a queen size bed in here).

Small bathrooms are always hard to photograph. We put new flooring down, it is burgundy and we have a burgundy shower curtain behind the white one (thank's Evette for the idea).

Upstairs landing

The stairs repainted

What you see when you walk in the front door

Through the porch

The dinning room

Front entry from the kitchen doorway

The kitchen with it's new flooring

Smallest room in the house

Sorry no living room pictures or basement. More pictures to follow later.

Pampered - Saturday

2011-02-13T17:24:00.000-06:00

Do you ever wonder what a Saturday morning can look like? Or should I ask do you wonder what a pampered wife's Saturday morning is like? Here is a normal Saturday for me at about 10:30 a.m.!


Pampered

At 10:00 Richard wakes me up and places a cup of coffee on the bedside table. Then both cats climb on the bed and curled up, of course not on the cat blanket. I pull out my latest sudoko book and work on some puzzles while I drink my coffee.

To "Mensch"-ion A Quick Fact

2011-01-06T20:56:00.000-06:00

I added a site meter to my blog and every so often I like to check where people live who log onto this small blog of mine and what draws them.

It appears the most visited item on my whole blog is the one where I show pictures of my face after being bitten by a pesky black fly. Called "Black fly Bite Aftermath". I've had people from Tunisia, Iran, Germany and many other countries sign onto my blog for that actual item.

Who would have thought a photo of a blotted face caused by a fly bite could draw so much attention.

Good Night to you all.

A New Phase Begins

2011-01-06T18:10:00.000-06:00

At least it begins on Monday.

As you all know I was let go from my Accounting position on December 10th. For no good reason. But that is now behind me. It was a tough month but I have got through, well just about. I had to double up on my sleeping tablets and instead of taking maybe one or two a week was taking two every night. I'm now back to taking one a night so things are improving.

This was the first year living in Prince Albert that they did not have a trumpet played during Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Evette played the first year and I played last year. This year my emotions were too raw and I felt it prudent not to play. It's bad enough having me fluff the odd note without seeing me breakdown in tears, so no trumpet this year. It was a tough Christmas but I made it through.

For New Years Eve we were invited out to Ed's place, well actually to his neighbours. What a blast we had. We spent time outside by the fire pit and when we were too cold, we went inside to get warm and of course eat and drink some more. It was so much fun, this was Richard's very first New Years Eve party and the first for me since we had been married, that will be 20 years this year. Just before mid-night we headed outside to count down ready for the fireworks to begin, they were so pretty and a lot of fun. But was I ever cold after-wards. Once I was warmed up Richard and I headed home soon after-wards.

My new phase will begin on Monday when I start a new job. I applied for a senior accounting position, knowing I wasn't really qualified as it was in Public Practice and the majority of my experience has been in the private sector. I had nothing to loose so I sent in my resume and some copies of references and waited.

On Monday last week we had our Insurance agent, James Dietrich visit, we wanted to move some of our RRSP's. While James was here we got to talking about me loosing my job, the whys and wherefores and the frustrations of the lack of accounting positions at my level. I told him about the senior accounting position that I had seen and had applied for but was not very hopeful. He said to send in my resume even though I didn't feel qualified for the position, I had already done that, as he happened to know the owner of the company and was going to be talking with him the very next day and so would put a word in for me.

I received an email the next day asking me if I could come in for a interview on Jan 4th. Of course I sent a reply saying I would be there at 11:30. The interview went really well, but I didn't fill all his wish lists for the person he wanted to hire, but he was extremely impressed with all my experience. It had been 20 years since I was last in public practice and I would not be up to date with the taxes laws etc. I told him I was not afraid to ask questions, look things up, and most importantly learn. He told me the area that would me my 'office' would be very small and just a sort of nook... as that is all I had at my last position it did not bother me one little bit. He had a couple of other interviews to do and so I left.

He did not want someone who had to be trained, he really wanted someone who had at least 5 years experience in public practice, and although impressed with what I brought to the table he did not get my hopes up.

This morning I received a phone call from George, would I be willing to come in for an informal meeting and meet with him and his partner, this did not say they were going to hire me, but he wanted his partner to meet me and have the opportunity to ask me some questions. Well folks I must have answered the questions correctly as they offered me a position, not the senior accounting one but as a staff accountant which they believe could become a senior accounting position in about two to three years. I will be working with his partner, will have a review in two weeks, then another in two months, if they feel I won't work out then that will be that, but if there is a chance I have a six month term position which could turn into a full-time position with a higher salary and benefits.

Obviously I accepted the position; George ensured I saw where I would be working and it is about the same amount of space I had at my last job, so no worries there, and he could have stuck me in a closet and I would have accepted the position.

So a new phase begins in an area I've worked in before but a long time ago. I'm both excited and nervous so please pray for me. Even at 58 life can begin with a new phase, life throws us curve balls but God pulls us through.

Another New Phase in Life

2010-12-14T16:24:00.000-06:00

I guess this isn't really new as I have been here before... been where? You may ask. Out of work!

That is correct I am once again without a full-time job, or any paying job. On Friday afternoon I had the shock to be told that I was no longer required to come back to work. The reason given: frustration! But whose frustration? At first I was told that the staff was frustrated with me. That did not make any sense what so ever. Each and every staff member (excluding the bosses) came to me for help to fix errors they have made, or help them with something they did not know how to do, or wanted to share something about their personal life they were going through at that point in time. OK, so not the staff, maybe frustrated was the wrong word.

Then came the next item a list of things that I had supposedly done or not done, none of which are reasons to let a person go... at least I don't think so... you be the judge:

I been told to no longer purchase paper direct but to ask for boxes from one of the other stores because they could purchase in larger quantities getting a better price. Sounds like a great idea but then we are reliant on the other store remembering to place the boxes of paper on a truck or in the car that is headed to our store. So we were low on paper, the order was placed, the crunch came, the paper did not, the other store had forgotten to load said paper onto the vehicle; needless to say we ran out of copier paper completely. I asked our front desk girl to go and buy a case while we waited for the other two to arrive, someone else told her not to buy a case. Now I was her immediate supervisor so who should she have listened too?

Next reason, an invoice had been entered twice once with the numeric 0 then with the letter O. I missed the duplication and paid the account, (about $44). The cheque was returned by the supplier but did not get to my desk but to my bosses desk. This particular invoice had not been entered by me but a new girl who had just been hired, who I did not teach. (This was actually a red flag for me as I did not have anything to do with her training, yet I was supposedly her supervisor.) She even told my boss that she had made the error. While I am being told this reason I did not tell the owner, who was laying me off, that I had found numerous errors made during invoice posting by the new girl. Invoices posted to the wrong vendors; totals incorrect due to wrong GST amounts, and various other errors.

Another item on his list: A piece of equipment had been paid for twice. Did I do that? You may ask. No I did not. I paid for the item and the vendor in question sent the same invoice to a leasing company that was used and that leasing company also paid for the same item; we in turn had to pay the leasing company. I worked with this vendor from March until October trying to get our funds returned. The individual that I phoned every month on a regular basis did not know how to correct this error, their error I might add. I resorted to emailing the girl and cc-ing to the CEO of the company, the funds were returned to us withing the week.

A third itme on the list: Copies of invoices that were not paid therefore missing from our office were not requested or not reconciled in a timely fashion. Once again not an error on my part as I regularly requested copies of missing invoices. Before they can be entered into the system and payed they have to have the purchase order (PO), receiving report and packing slip attached to prove we had ordered and received the item. There were times when I would request copy of invoices several times but once I passed them to the girl who did all the matching they never got back to my desk. I would here her say: "If I see this invoice one more time I'll..." well you can guess the rest. If she could not find PO's for the invoice or other paperwork she would toss the invoice. She would not do any kind of detective work to make sure we had dealt with the original. As I am at the end of the line for all paperwork of this nature, then it must be my fault. Is this reason to lay me off?

There you have it. Ah! now the frustration is mine, that's why they are letting me go. Way to turn things around, from staff are frustrated with me... to me being frustrated and so I was being let go.

I had worked for this company for just over a year, supposedly as the Accountant but with my hands tied behind my back (figuratively of course). I had no access to the bank account to download the statements or check on direct deposits or withdrawals. I had no access to Workers Compensation to file injury reports, actually I had no access to anything... sorry I tell a lie, I could access the owners Visa account and the companies loan account. I was the Accountant and supervisor of two, none of it was reality, just fiction I was told when I was hired, the same as the salary I was to earn. All fictitious.

No I was not happy working there, they have just done me a huge favour; but hurt pride is tough. I've worked for over 30 years and never been layed off, if anything employers have done their utmost to keep me. Right now I'm hurt, angry and very upset and having a hard time not letting depression take over.

Would I take my job back if they offered it, not without a ton of concessions, a much higher salary, and everything in writing. So if I or you learn anything from this... Get it in writing!!

It is Over

2010-11-20T16:40:00.000-06:00

Finally I can put the stress behind me and get on with living. Since May the stress has been awful. Neither Richard or I have talked about the what if...

Even though I heard on Tuesday that I do not have cancer in my right arm it took me until yesterday (Friday) to take that deep breath and say it is over and life can continue as usual. All the things I have stopped doing or put off can now be done or worked on. Richard told me it was understandable that I did not jump up and down and celebrate as soon as I heard. One reason was I had absolutely no faith in the surgeon who actually finally did the biopsy, and secondly because the stress had been there for so long my mind and body did not know how to shed it.

Wednesday I had the ultrasound done and I figured the technician had found something, obviously they are not allowed to say anything to the patient, so was a bit worried about that. I saw my family Doctor yesterday and she explained first about the lumps that are called Hemangioma:

Hemangiomas usually are small, measuring only a quarter inch in diameter, but they can be several inches in diameter or even larger. The vast majority of hemangiomas of the liver never cause symptoms or health problems.

And like the above says are usually found in the liver, mine just happen to be in my right arm. We also discussed the pain that I've been having lately in my right arm, which she feels could be related to the neck damage that I acquired back in 1989 from the two rear end car accidents I had within a week of each other. This damage has caused a curvature of the upper spine and could now be pinching nerves. She sent me for C-spine Xrays and will refer me for nerve conduction tests. None of this is as stressful as thinking I once again had the rare cancer back of spindle cell sarcoma.

My plans now are to get our house appraised. I love this house it is quaint with lots of original features from the 1912's. Is far too small for Richard and I to do any entertaining. We can have one couple here but two means the dinning room chairs have to be moved into the living room and they are not comfortable for several hours of visiting. Then I need to consult with a mortgage broker and see how much we can qualify and afford in regard to a mortgage. We have seen a house, the same era as our present one, that is a lot bigger but will mean not only can we entertain more than one couple at a time but also have friends and the motor homes visit and park in the massive back yard. Right now I think the house is over priced but I don't believe it will stay on the market for very long so I have to get acting on my latest projects so we at least can maybe have a chance of moving to a house we love as much as this one.

Life is good and can now be lived. I thank everyone who has kept Richard and I in your prayers over the last seven months.

Too Stressed

2010-10-25T18:53:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that a month has gone by without writing anything. I've had a few ideas lately but not acted on them. One was to begin writing my childhood memories another was just to do a daily stream but nothing has been produced.

Just to bring you up to date. Richard finally had his hernia surgery last week, surgery he had been waiting for two years. Instead of one hernia perforation he had two that were wide open so ended up on the table a lot longer than expected. He had a consult today and although his stitches were not ready to come out he is healing OK. It may take him nearly three months to really heal because of the extensive damage that had to be repaired but he'll heal fine.

What is the other stress well I don't have any answers but I do finally have another appointment with a new surgeon this time in Saskatoon. One of his specialties is oncology so I should be in good hands and just maybe there will be no more messing around. So I hope that within the next few weeks hopefully I should have had a biopsy and know the results.

Yes stress is high and I'm extremely tired, loosing weight, and have very little energy. I go to work, come home, eat, watch a little TV and head to bed.

Revisit the Triathlon

2010-09-21T19:10:00.000-06:00

I finally have a couple of pictures of Richard's completion of the Triathlon as promised.

And here you are. Richard managed to find his last reserves to sprint to the finish line. I took these with his camcorder and we managed to get some still pictures from that.

Vacation Bible School

2010-09-05T17:32:00.000-06:00

On Sunday August 8th Richard did the Triathlon the following day we began our Vacation Bible School (VBS). You are probably thinking what bad timing but it was the best timing for our congregation.

We began the process of preparing for a VBS by first seeing if our small congregation could support such an endeavour. The first meeting was called. Being the Director of Parish Education this fell in my lap. Before the meeting we heard the usual types of comments; it will be the same time as we always have, it will run during the full week, why the need for all these meetings, etc. Were there enough individuals, not only willing to teach but also those willing to be back-up teachers in case someone could not fill their slot? Did we have enough teacher aids, snack time helpers, craft helpers etc.? In order to have enough volunteers when would the best time be? How many would need to take time off work to help and was this fair to ask individuals to use their vacation time to work at a VBS? What material would we use? Would everyone be on board to come to the evening preparation classes? So many questions had to be answered before we moved forward with our plan.

It was agreed we would have the VBS the first week of August, this time suited the most individuals, and we would have it in the evenings of that week. This was something very new for this congregation who had always had daytime VBS's. I was pleased to see so many of our volunteers on board with this new time. I handed the meeting to Pastor who showed us a variety of material we could use, some of which he already owned. Again the decision was made quite quickly, we chose "Follow The Lamb" put out by Pam Dawson.

After that first meeting things fell quickly into place. Age groups were chosen by the main teachers and their material was given to them. We spent time on ideas for classroom decor, possible snacks (cookies and juice) with a BBQ on the Friday, and the crafts. A month before the actual VBS Pastor taught us the lessons and gave ideas for teaching each days material.

"Follow The Lamb" the lessons are placed in time of the early Church; we began with an Opening Worship Service using the Invocation, Kyrie and triple Alleluia. All the teachers wore togas, (white sheets wrapped to resemble these, the ladies wearing a scarf over their head during the worship)( it was too hot to keep the togas on for the whole evening), we sang the hymn of the day and Pastor gave a short devotion. Each day ended with worship in the same format the closing hymn was "Abide with me", while the children gathered for the closing worship the hymn of the day was sung and we closed with the Benediction.

First day: the Birth of Jesus, incarnation; hymn of the day "Silent Night"; craft a mosaic.
Second day: The Crucifixion, passion; hymn of the day verses 16,17, & 18 of "Jesus, in your Dying Woes"; craft a small banner.
Third day: The Resurrection, (also word of the day); hymn of the day "Christ the Lord is Risen Today; Alleluia"; craft hand held lamp.
Fourth day: The Ascension, (also word of the day); hymn of the day verses 1-4 & 6 of "A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing"; craft stuff in water in a bottle (buttons, sparkles etc.).
Fifth day; Pentecost, (also word of the day); hymn of the day "Come Holy Ghost our Souls Inspire"; finish all crafts and also make a book of their colouring pages.

Having the VBS in the evening meant we had less time, we chose to have each class doing the same activity, it meant we did not require as many helpers because the teachers supervised and or helped their own classes during craft time, it did mean that I had all the children for singing together, this was extra challenging having to cater to all ages at once, this was not a good idea and will not be done in future VBS's.

For a small congregation we had 43 children registered and averaged 33. Considering there had not been VBS at our congregation for the past two years this was a good number also very manageable. A few pictures of the week.

A few of us dressed in our togas... our Pastor was poor so his outfit was short on material.

Pastor assisting during craft time.

Snack time helpers taking a short break

The awesome work done by Gloria to the doors of our Church House

August 8th Triathlon

2010-08-21T16:22:00.002-06:00

Back in March Richard made the decision to train towards taking part in the Frank Dunn Triathlon at Waskasew. Before he changed his mind he paid the necessary fee and began training. He was not able to train with the Triathlon club here in Prince Albert as they were doing all their training on Sunday mornings and of course there is no way for Richard to join them at that time. I wasn't sure about this new goal of his but it was something for him to aim for.

He spent several hours each week at the gym until the snow was gone and he could once more get his bike out and start riding again. He had managed last year to ride to Emma Lake and swim then ride back home again which totaled about 120 kilometers biking and about an hour of swimming. This spring he added running to his training and was up to running 10 K. The triathlon would require swimming 1.5 K. biking 62 K. and running 13 K. this would be quite and undertaking for someone who is over weight.

On the Saturday August 7th we took our motor home out to Elk Ridge Recreation Spot and camped over night. At 6:00 am we packed up and headed the final five miles into Waskasew. While I fixed a breakfast for myself Richard took his gear over to the pen, transition spot, where his bike and running gear would sit while he took part in the three stages of the Triathlon. Once he was set he came back to the motor home and collected me and a chair etc. and we walked to where I would have a good view of the swimming.

Richard was one of the few who did not wear a wet suit, this is a picture of him, at least the back view. He is wearing his heart monitor which was allowed. Now Richard does not do a crawl when swimming but a side stroke which means he is not very fast and the 1.5 K. swim took him 55 mins. to complete but he was not the last to finish the swim.

This is him about half way point and I figured I had time to go and find a washroom and then find a coffee. I missed seeing him come out of the water having not yet got back from my coffee and pancakes that I found being served in the community hall. I did catch up to him at the bike pen though.

Here he is just about ready to set out on the bike portion. I'm afraid this is the last picture I have as I took video after this shot and as of yet have not loaded it onto the computer but will add anything that has come out later. Even though he was not the last to set out on the 62 K. bike portion of the race he was the last one to arrive back and so the last to set out on the 13 K run portion.

As 2:00 was getting close I realized that the organizers were beginning to pack everything up and yet still no Richard had arrived back. Finally one of the volunteers saw me still sitting waiting and asked if I was waiting for someone. I explained that my husband had not yet arrived back from the run and I was a little worried. They took time to check with the various water stations along the route and found that he was still 6 K. out. At that point Richard said a couple of the girls from one of the drink stations began to run (walk) with him along the final stretch of the route... a vehicle was sent out to see if he wanted to quit and get a ride back but he persevered and kept going. From that point on they kept me informed of his progress. When he made his appearance at the edge of the park all the volunteers lined the last few 100 yards and cheered him on.

The race took him 6 hrs and 2 mins. but he completed it and I am proud of him. The majority of participants in the event were part of teams where only one person does one of the events. There were only about 30 who did the whole triathlon themselves. He was the last man to finish but was not truly last as there were a couple of disqualifications and a few who did not finish.

God at Work in our Congregation

2010-08-21T15:06:00.004-06:00

Around Easter time we had several visitors attend our services. One couple in particular are planning to be married by a LC~C Pastor but required instruction before he would preside over their wedding. As they live here in Prince Albert the Pastor suggested they approach Pastor Mensch (Richard) and attend Redeemer Lutheran Church.

Ron and Michelle have been attending services and Bible study each Sunday since that time. Richard has provided them with catecheticle instruction. Ron has never been a church goer and never been baptized, Michelle is baptized and been a member of an other denomination. What a joy it has been over the past months to see the spiritual growth in both Ron and Michelle as they have not only received instruction but attended services and Bible study on a regular basis.

On August 1st Ron was baptized. It is always a wonderful miracle to see a baby receive the gift of faith through baptism but it is awesome when that miracle is shown in an adult through baptism. The joy on Ron's face as Pastor Mensch baptized him was wonderful. Once Ron was baptized both he and Michelle were confirmed and received into membership of Redeemer Lutheran Church and Lutheran Church~Canada.

This is the cake Michelle made for her Fiance which we shared during the coffee fellowship after the worship service.

In a few weeks they will become one as they are joined in marriage.

We had no need of special programs or music just pure Word and Sacrament and God's Kingdom here on earth grew by two. That same Easter week-end brought another visitor to our congregation who is also now taking Catachetical instruction from Pastor Mensch. Unlike Ron and Michelle she had no suggestions given to her to attend Redeemer Lutheran Church but just joined us at Easter and after attending a few other denominations she returned to our small Church family and is attending regularly.

Christ is always at work in us as we serve others through our vocations. God does not need our special programs and music. All that is required is that we remain faithful to His Word and Sacraments and it is His hand at work not ours.

Waiting is the hardest

2010-07-30T20:55:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday I went to see a surgeon to discuss the next move. He could not find the lump himself and would not let me show him. His reasoning, that he would have to be able to find it himself to perform the surgery, which makes sense I guess. His plan will be to remove the lesion closest to the surface of the skin. Then he will send it to either Saskatoon or Edmonton's laboratory for analysis. First he will talk with the radiologist, who made up the MRI report, have him mark on the films exactly where the lesions are, once he has that information he will book me for a local surgery to remove one lesion.

He does not want to miss getting the lesion or accidentally cut through it and damage the tissue. He needs to obtain enough tissue for the laboratory to use dye on the sample. At least that is what I understood him to say. He left Richard and I with the impression that he would contact us within a day or two, now I realize we were wanting to hear, that there would not be much of a wait.

I was concerned on talking with the surgeon that he knows nothing at all about Spindle Cell Sarcoma, that he was talking about trying to get all the lesions out with enough tissue. Again maybe I was not really understanding what he was saying... although Richard was with me and heard the same.

I phoned my family Doctor to discuss my concerns. She explained that this surgeon would only be doing the first surgery in order for us to get a biopsy. If it does show positive then he would not be doing any further surgery but I would be referred to the cancer clinic and their specialists. My Doctor did say that their concern is one lesion that is really deep and against the main artery.

It is Friday and no follow up phone call from the surgeon,this is a long week-end which means Tuesday is now the earliest I will hear anything. I would be lying if I said I was doing fine, I'm very stressed, 1'm not sleeping very well without sleeping pills and what felt like, and still feels like, one lump is four lesions with a possible four more, can that be nothing?

MRI Results

2010-07-22T21:58:00.000-06:00

What do I say? I already knew that x-rays and ultrasounds would show nothing definitive if any thing at all. I've been down this road before twelve - thirteen years ago where everything was tried to relieve me of nerve pain in my foot. It took exploratory surgery in 1998 to find the spindle cell sarcoma, a very small tumor. A year later the same pain the same sort of surgery and more of the same spindle cell sarcoma. Another year would go by when I decided to have a below the knee amputation.

Now here I am ten years later I've had the ultrasound, the x-ray and now the MRI... the only definitive tool for what I think is the problem... the only diagnostic tool that would show the abnormal cells that could be in my right arm. I noticed the small lump on the inside edge of my right elbow some time ago but it did not start to bother me until just recently.

I have a new Doctor who did not waste anytime getting me set up with the necessary tests. She has contacted the cancer centre in Saskatoon, I have signed a document so she can obtain all my files in regard to my previous diagnosis of spindle cell sarcoma and surgeries. This Doctor has done more for me in the few weeks I've been her patient than the whole time with the one before her.

OK... so what is the diagnoses? I have four measurable lesions, all of them are under 1 cm in size, one is in the "subcutaneous tissues medially at the level of the medial epicondyle" (I think this is the one I can feel). The second lesion is ill-defined and superolaterally to the first lesion "this lesion is not as discrete and contains mixed T1 and T2 signal" nearly touching the brachial artery. The third lesion is seen at the level of the midradial head, in the transverse plane. This lesion is 0.5 cm anterior to the radial nerve. There is a suspected fourth lesion. There are also four small foci of ill-defined enhancement... which may represent additional lesions. The body of the report and the summery don't quite match up... so will have to wait and see what I am eventually told after surgery.

The document is in much more detail most of which I don't understand. It talks of the enhancement and characteristics and ROI measurements all of which means very little to me. The final recommendation in consideration of my prior history of spindle cell sarcoma... "as well as the dense enhancement some of these lesions demonstrate, certainly metastatic disease would have to be considered, and histologic sampling with a view to complete excision of as many of these lesions as is technically feasible or possible is suggested, particularly as they may or may not all represent the same process."

So there you have the diagnosis, I have not imagined the lump, it is real. Is it spindle cell sarcoma again? I don't know and won't know until a biopsy has been performed. I expect to hear from a surgeon in a few days with a date for my surgery.

This morning at 5:00 I had my panic attack and at 6:30 I shed tears.

Now I wait for the first phone call... then the results... then????

My trust is in my Saviour, Jesus Christ; He has never given me more then I can handle.

The Trip Home

2010-07-17T22:25:00.000-06:00

I know this is a couple of weeks late. We left Grand Marais on the Wednesday morning the weather was nice. Our plan, to drive as far as Duluth and shop at JC Penney's taking advantage of their big June sale. We have usually caught this sale on the last week-end and have always been happy with our purchases. This time it was early in the sale and there were racks of clothes for under $5, I purchased three dress jackets at $5 each and at least 5 skirts for the same price. These items will serve me well at work, added to this were blouses that will complete the outfits. We headed to DSW shoes so I could purchase new runners, we did not get as good a deal as we have in past years so I only purchased one new pair this time. We did not stay in Duluth for the night but turned our noses towards home.

We took highway 2 home and the weather became hotter and hotter. As I have mentioned in earlier posts, our generator would not continue running so we could not run our main A/C and the dash a/c is not very strong so did not keep up. I'm not sure where we parked that night but I know we were tired, grubby and extremely hot.

I took these three pictures while we traveled the sky was absolutely gorgeous. In the 2nd picture you can see the lines of dark clouds it looked as if someone had painted lines across a pink sky, the pictures do not do it justice. The last picture is just before we hit a swarm of bugs that would have made this picture impossible to take through the front windshield.

We parked as usual in a Walmart parking lot. We spent time in the store just to cool down and when I could walk no longer I left Richard to grocery shop, purchasing items that we cannot get in Canada. Having no power meant the fridge did not go to gas power so we tried to open the door as little as possible. In the morning we headed out again hoping the weather would cool off just a little, it did not, if anything it was hotter than the previous day. Our plan was to reach Minot and find the truck stop where we knew they had plug-ins, at least they did have about seven years ago. We made it to Minot, I was over heated and we really needed to cool our motor home down. The truck stop was found and yes they did still have plug-ins but they no longer allowed people to use them. Richard was directed to talk with the manager or owner, I don't remember which, they did concede and said we could plug in for one hour. For those who know how big a 35 ft motor home is you will know that one hour will only take the temperature down a couple of degrees at best. I spent that hour sitting directly under the line of cold air from the unit, I had to get my body temperature down or have heat stroke.

The hour past all to quickly and now we had to decide did we park for that night or head out and try to at least hit the boarder. Our choice, to keep going. We stayed on highway 2 until we could turn north to pick up number 6 in Saskatchewan, heading towards Regina. We reached the boarder and we met our first ever human Canadian Customs Official, we could not have wished to deal with a nicer person. Usually we find Canadian Customs people very officious and they all appear to like to give returning Canadians a rough time when returning home, but this guy was wonderful and made our moods a lot calmer than they had been for a good many miles due to the heat that we were suffering.

It was evening when we crossed over into Canada. A wind began to pick-up and really buffet us about, Richard was struggling to keep our unit on the road. We were watching a phenomenal lightening storm off in the distance but as Regina came closer so did that storm. Over to the NW the clouds seemed to be suspended just above the ground. When the rain hit it hit hard, with winds still pounding us the rain, sheets of water, the wipers could not keep up with the amount of water that was coming down. Richard decided that we would have to pull to the side and sit this storm out. As we were slowing down we saw a side turning and pulled into this, there was a vehicle stopped on this road and Richard wound down his window and asked them what was up ahead as we needed to sit out the storm. We were told it was just a clearing with grain bins and that they too were just parked to watch the storm. We drove a few more yards and saw the clearing turning the motor home around and tucking in behind these bins we waited out the storm. Actually we went to bed and slept for about five hours.

The rest of our trip home was uneventful. The crops were almost none existent the further north we traveled and the amount of standing water in the fields increased. (On Sunday we were told that they had had basically three weeks of rain.) We arrived home, tired, grubby, having had no power in order to use the water, a day earlier than expected. It was only Friday morning. We emptied as much as we needed from the motor home. Plugged her into the house power and went in to the house to relax.

Little did we know that in a few hours we would witness yet another storm as fierce as the one the previous evening which would cause thousands of dollars worth of damage to trees and buildings in East Hill and East Flats of Prince Albert, that afternoon and early evening. I did not think that I would see rain like that two days in a row. The winds were upwards of 90 miles an hour. We only lost one branch of one of our trees and very little water in the basement. Many did not fair as well.

What an end to three wonderful weeks of vacation.

The Elusive Plant

2010-06-29T20:44:00.000-06:00

I thought I should post a picture of the plant I was looking for this afternoon.

I guess it was August when we took this last time so obviously not the right time of year for me to be hunting for the plant in June. Oh well I did enjoy our trek.

Last Day in Grand Marais

2010-06-29T20:30:00.000-06:00

We are now in the evening of our last day here. Richard took the morning to change some electrical parts, the isolator and another unit, we were hoping that one or the other was the reason for not having any coach power when we aren't plugged in to an electrical power.

Here he is busy in the engine. While he was busy with that I was amusing myself with taking pictures of Katie.

Katie spent her day following the sun around in the Motor Home.

In the afternoon I pursued-ed Richard to take me on another hike. I wanted to see if I could find a rare plant that we managed to find in 2008. I did enjoy the trek going up a steep grass hill and searching the edge of the trees for the elusive plant. I did take pictures of other plants so have included some here.

These two pictures show a thistle, I'm afraid it wasn't in bloom yet but had Richard show how tall it had grown.

These two show the flowering grass that is to be found in this area they grow in single stems.

This is wild honeysuckle... at least I think that is what it's called.

Some interesting moss that looked like miniature pine... Hard to see but double white bell flower.

This is really common but such a pretty yellow... and these white flowers are very tiny and just perfect.

I saw this orange showing through the underbrush thinking it was a ball but once uncovered it was a very interesting toadstool.

This is the view above the harbour as you can tell I trekked up quite a slope.

Richard took these of me still climbing up the trail... I didn't want to return via the road so we retraced our steps back down to the camp ground.

My last two pictures one is of horse tail fern (grass) you can see the sectioned spokes and one blooming; the other one is wild raspberry.

Once we were back at the motor home we sat at the picnic table drinking beer, wine cooler's for me, and playing tile rummy. Then Richard put all our chairs away and other items that needed to be placed in the basement areas of the RV, this will save time tomorrow morning when we begin our journey home via Duluth to shop first.

Even though the weather wasn't the best I have really enjoyed my stay here in Grand Marais.

Sunday

2010-06-28T15:56:00.000-06:00

When we stay in Grand Marais we always ensure we are here for at least one Sunday. We arrange with Pastor Shutte to collect us from the campground so we can join them in worship. This visit was no exception. Dennis had visited us a couple of times already plus we had gone for supper with them on Friday. Sunday morning found us up at 6:00 am so we could shower, have breakfast and be ready when Dennis called for us at 8:20.

This picture was taken before service as Pastor Shutte has to leave very soon after service to head up the Gun Flint Trail to conduct a further service for those members who spend their summers up at their cabins during the summer.

Richard and I both wore our new outfits that we had purchased during our shopping spree at J.C. Penney's in Greenfield. My outfit was very different from what I would normally buy in regards to colour and the design on the skirt.

Bob, on of the parishioners drove us back to our campsite. Later on in the day we had a visit from Harriet. This was a nice visit and gave us chance to catch up with all her news since we saw her last.

The Nature Trail

2010-06-28T15:17:00.002-06:00

Richard and I have walked this short nature trail in other years but I wanted to have a walk and chose this route. It is located at the end of the campground and actually the easiest of the three walks that are indicated on the board at the head of the trail. As you know from past years I like to take pictures of the flowers that grow in these areas.

This is a flowering raspberry or thimble berry.

The views of Lake Superior are quite wonderful, the waters on Saturday were very calm and very relaxing.

This is one of the spots along the trail that overlook the Lake. This rustic bench and potted geranium have been placed there in memory of and individual. I took the time to sit and adjust my leg before continuing on our leisurely walk.

This was a little of the beaten track and meant I had to negotiate some challenging, for me, rock clambering. Richard left me to find my own footing which worked out a lot better than the last time we traversed this section in 2008 when he suggested where I should place my hiking poles and feet. Once at the clearing Richard found this flower for me (I don't know it's name).

Richard couldn't resist and went further than the outlook where I stopped, there was no way I could clamber over these rocks to the spot where you see him standing.

Here he is working his way back to where I was waiting.

This is one of the area's that I had to negotiate, the rock was about a 2' 6" high step up, but I managed to find notches for my foot and spots to place my poles so I could navigate up and then of course back down on our return to the main trail. Richard was supposed to have taken a short video of me while I managed this feat but I'm not sure what he did but it was not on the card when I downloaded the pictures.

This was a pretty area of bunch berry or dwarf dogwood, there was a lot of this along the trail but I liked the way the spruce branch partially covered the area.

We tried to get a better picture of the bluebells but all the pictures were blurred as was the one of the buttercup.

I was pleased with myself accomplishing the extra side trips that were a bit more of a challenge than just the nature walk which is graveled for ease of walking. I'm no where near in the condition I was in in 2008 when we did quite a bit of hiking in this area.

I enjoyed our walk and the rain kept away for most of the day.

Liquid Sunshine

2010-06-26T11:22:00.000-06:00

After leaving Greenfield we turned our noses towards Grand Marais. This has to be our favourite place to spend a relaxing vacation. Monday night we parked at the Superior 24hr Walmart. This Walmart is the one that Richard really likes to shop at. As usual we headed into the store to peruse their wares. I was disappointed there was nothing that said 'try me on'. Richard had far better luck than I did, finding cargo shorts and jeans at clearance prices and a few more t-shirts. I decided I was too tired to wander the shop anymore and headed back to the motor home leaving Richard shopping for groceries and anything else he felt we could not do without.

The following morning we were back on the road traveling the last leg of our journey to Grand Marais. The excitement being when Richard realized we were just about out of gas. We turned into the next town, which just happened to be the same town where we waited to have a tire replaced after blowing one of our back duel tires three or four years ago.

You maybe asking yourself why the title 'Liquid Sunshine' well we hit rain just before Superior since then we have had rain every day. When we arrived at the camp ground we did our usual drive along the front to see if there were any lake front spots open. We were a little disappointed that there were no free sites on that side of the camp ground, we accepted 50W which faces the playground and basketball hoop.

Here we are set up in our spot ready for sunshine. Once we had set up our neighbours asked us if we were hoping for sunshine, we had put all the awnings out. They told us the weather had been awful with rain just about every day, they spend their summers here but live in Arizona in the winter.

Wednesday morning was bright and the sun was shinning, we decided to head out to visit Harriet up at her place of business, Superior RV shop, and also her home. This is quite a walk for me there is a steep incline out of the campgrounds and then a steady rise out of town towards Harriet's place. Richard said it was about a mile.

This picture does not give a true impression on how steep this incline is, this is on the way back from Harriet's she was not home so we had to walk back I must admit I was quite tired after wards.

This is the decent back to the camp grounds. I was beginning to really struggle by this point. Hills and slopes are not my favourite type of walking, having no ankle it is a struggle to maneuver up and down them.

Once back I spent a short while sitting under the awning reading, taking advantage of the sun while it lasted. While sitting there I looked across to the playground and saw three rabbits playing chase and managed to capture this picture of them, the third one is by the ladder to the slide. They kept me amused for quite some time before scurrying off into the long grass at the edge of the grounds.

Tuesday morning we had a visit from Dennis and made arrangements to go out to dinner with him and Sandra. Thursday the day was clear again and we walked into town. I love the harbour and took yet another picture of the tranquil site of the boats slowly bobbing on the water. Dennis also popped by on Thursday morning to arrange for our dinner outing for Friday evening.

We are taking advantage of the sun there has been more rain than anything else since we have been here. Wednesday night Richard had to get up at 3:00 am to put the main awning up as the wind was really blowing the last thing we want is a torn awning.

Last night we went for dinner with Dennis and Sandra, the meal was good the company even better. They told us this is the most relaxed they have ever seen us in all the years we have been coming to Grand Marais which is about six years now. They are really happy for us that Richard now has a congregation that truly appreciates him and fits him so well. Even though I find work frustrating I too am no where near as stressed as I have been in past years.

Today the sun is shinning and I hope to take a walk along the short trail just beyond the camp grounds. Richard is hoping the rain holds off and this afternoon he will take a swim in the harbour out to the light house and back. Our neighbours have asked us to let them know when he plans to do this as they want to watch. Most people do not believe that anyone would choose to swim in Lake Superior because it is so cold.

Our Neighbours (for a week)

2010-06-24T11:58:00.000-06:00

The Catechetical Academy hold their annual Symposium beginning the third Wednesday in June. We have been traveling down to it as often as possible since 2000. The first year we met the Koch family, since then we have stayed with them each time we've attended the symposium. They have become family to us. This year was no exception. We arrived in our Motor Home on Tuesday and proceeded to set up home outside Aaron and Laura's, becoming neighbours for a week.

While in Greenfield Laura and Aaron, as their schedule permits, take us to the various stores we like to visit. This trip was no different we went to the 2nd hand book store, checked out some of the other stores in the strip mall including one called Tuesday Morning. There were all sorts of interesting items to be found and many at very reasonable prices.

Wednesday evening was the opening Divine Service for the Symposium. The church is always full the singing is wonderful to say nothing of the service itself which is always enlightening with much food for thought. After the service there is a reception in the school hall, where we meet friends we have made over the years and make new friends. It was great to see a fellow Canadian Pastor and his wife (Dave and Lise) attending, usually Richard and I are the only Canadians who attend.

Thursday and Friday morning are the actual sessions where we listen to various speakers. This years topic was on the first article of the creed "I believe in God the Father almighty maker of heaven and earth." I enjoy the sessions and learn much during that time. Friday afternoon is the Bratwurst BBQ, where we take time visiting with everyone.

These few days are pretty hectic so there is not much time for us to spend with the Koch family. Friday night we sat down and played "Fluxx" a new game for the family but one Richard and I enjoy. On Saturday Laura dropped us off at JC Penney's where we shopped for clothes for both Richard and myself. This has become a tradition for us, when we are in the States we always go to JC Penney's to shop, it is one place we know we can buy clothes that fit Richard. Hannah and Mary were working at Taco Place so we went there and had our lunch before shopping some more.

Saturday evening we went to 'Bekah's new home and played bowling on their Wii. This was a lot of fun. It is amazing what you learn about people when you play games with them. I'm always shocked at how grown up Aaron and Laura's children are. Bekah is now married and has a little one of her own.

I had every intention of taken pictures during our stay in Greenfield but kept forgetting my camera so on Saturday and Sunday we made up for it and took the following pictures.

Bekah is practicing a new wrap that she bought to hold Jacob in when she is shopping. There are several ways of wrapping the cloth around ones self to carry your child in different positions. It looked very comfortable and Jacob was quite content being snuggled close to his Mom.

This a better picture where you can see Jacob cocooned against his mother.

Hannah and Mary helping clean the dishes up after our Saturday spaghetti supper.

Getting a picture of Laura is extremely hard to do and you have to catch her unaware, sorry Laura this is not the best picture of you. You can see Bekah with Jacob, she was showing her Mom how the new wrap worked.

Aaron at the computer working.

Sunday was Father's day, once the gifts were open by Gabe (Bekah's husband) and Aaron they were able to BBQ shish kabobs, which were really good. Missing from this picture are Laura (someone had to take the picture) and Philip, who had left during the week to attend a wedding.

Here is Laura, not happy because I took this just as... well never mind... but I think it is a nice picture of her.

It was a great visit we were not rushed to leave and decided rather than dash off after Divine Service on Sunday we would wait until Monday morning. This was a great visit as always. I know Aaron feels he is too busy during this particular week but we always enjoy our stay with his family and we keep up with them and all their news even when we aren't visiting.

Thank you Aaron, Laura, Bekah, Phil, Hannah and Mary for allowing us to be part of your family.

Posture

2010-06-24T10:27:00.000-06:00

I know I said I would write about our trip but I found some pictures that I meant to add to my blog.

This is the chair I have been sitting in for the past 10+ years. When we sold our home in Edmonton after Richards graduation from seminary we replaced a good majority of our furniture most I had had since the children were babies. My chair became a problem after my amputation. It was too low and too deep. I used to have a cushion on the seat as well as the one you see at the back. This meant I could get in and out of the chair a lot easier.

I eventually took the seat cushion off but needed the one at my back. If you have a Lazyboy you will know that they tend to make you sag (relax) into them, that being said I had become to relax too much and hence my posture suffered. I still had trouble standing up once I was seated in the chair but did not want to put the cushion back on the seat, anyway that cushion was now at the church because I find the pews are too low and cause other problems, but that's maybe another blog.

This is how I looked once seated, as you can see my posture is very bad and although I look comfortable I still found it difficult to stand up once seated. Our cats loved this chair because it meant I had plenty of lap for them to sit on and they could stretch out comfortably while I used the computer, sewed, read or just watched TV.

After a lot of shopping and testing chairs we finally came to one that would really work. Believe it or not the whole chair and foot stool fit into this one box. I was at work when Richard put the chair and stool together, which may have been a good thing!

This is what we purchased to replace the Lazyboy. It doesn't look as comfortable and took me sometime to get used to. Our cats were not happy and chose not to sit on my lap for the first week or so. As you can see the seat is not as deep the back is more upright if I need to put my feet up then I have the stool. I am now used to the glider, I am able to get out of it a lot easier than I could the Lazyboy. I have no need for extra cushions and the room looks bigger without the larger chair.

There is a down side to the new chair, I can't hide all my stuff as well as I could behind the other chair, but it means then I have to have less stuff around me and keep things a lot tidier. To solve the lap problem we purchased a free standing table that fits over my legs and means that our cats can sit on my lap when they want to. We kept the Lazyboy for several weeks to make sure I was really comfortable with the new chair, once I decided that this was the right way to go we sold the Lazyboy to a parishioner who needed one for her son whose old one was in bad shape and was in a care home where he needed to supply his own chair.

I must admit there are times when I miss my Lazyboy but when you have a tiny living room, as we do, you can't keep extra furniture. It is great to be able to get in and out of a chair now though.

Prince Albert to Greenfield, WI

2010-06-22T15:57:00.000-06:00

Sunday June 13rd after Richard had fed his pastoral flock we headed home to finish packing the motor home. It wasn't long before we were ready to move the RV from it's parking spot at the end of our property and leave for our three week adventure. While Richard hooked up the battery and moved our temporary home I checked that everything in the house was secure and we hadn't forgotten to pack anything.

Richard was taken quite some time but he eventually came in and informed me that he would have to take the battery (the 3rd one) back to Canadian Tire for replacement as it too was dead. This was the beginning of this years adventure. He returned with the replacement, hooked it up, started up the RV and moved it to the street ready for us to take our leave. It was about 3:00 or so when we finally set out.

We had no real plan other than to get as far from home as we could that first day. By about 10 - 10:30 Richard had had enough driving for the first stretch; we were in Estevan. We had not quite made it to the border as hoped. We found the local Walmart and pulled into their car park for the night. Engine turned off, battery disconnected we discovered we had no power to the coach. No problem we would run the generator; that started fine but would only run for about 5 minutes before it too quite. The adventure had begun; had the mice eaten through wires during the residence in the RV?

Having RV problems is nothing new to us; having had a 1972 Winnebago Brave before this RV we were not new to breakdowns and motor home adventures. We learned at the beginning of our RV days that you always add extra travel days for unforeseen (not sure that that's the correct term to use) breakdowns. The question was; do we want to do anything about this current turn of events? Not really, well not at the moment. We pulled out the emergency lights and went to bed.

The plan for Monday was to drive as far as we could. Not much of a plan but it worked for us. There were no new mishaps or surprises for us on Monday and we happily listened to our audio book as we traveled on I94. We made it to Menomonie, just outside Eau Claire, found the nearest Walmart and once more parked for the night. Still not having any power once the engine was turned off and the vehicle battery disconnected; we munched on what was at hand and then headed for bed.

The next day we set out on our last leg of travel for this first part of our vacation. For Christmas Richard got himself a GPS and we discovered that this small piece of equipment was worth it's weight in gold. It directed us away from major delays and kept us moving in the fastest most efficient route to Greenfield. We were really looking forward to using this small piece of equipment once we were within reaches of Milwaukee and hence Greenfield, our destination.

I have to say this was the most relaxed either of us have ever been on a trip to visit with the Koch family; we would have stress from the breakdowns, various mishaps and reading maps to guide Richard through the traffic. We took the lack of power calmly; I did not have to tell Richard which lane to move too or which junction or exit to take, that was all left to the GPS. This was the first time we had arrived at Laura and Aaron's home not over loaded with stress from an adventurous drive.

Three Weeks of Holiday

2010-06-22T15:11:00.000-06:00

When I was hired for my current position I made sure that the bosses knew I would be gone for three weeks in June. That three weeks is now here and they are not really happy about the fact that things are getting really busy and I am gone until July 3rd.

Before I left on Friday June 11th my immediate boss made sure I was aware that the majority of my work would still be here waiting for my attention when I returned. At that moment I realized that I did not really care I would be gone and would have three wonderful weeks away visiting friends, relaxing by Lake Superior and shopping.

I will try to blog about our trip over the next few days.

Where had the time gone

2010-05-08T17:01:00.000-06:00

My goodness has it been two months since I last added anything to my blog?

You know I don't really have anything new to add. Other that work has been absolutely awful for the last few weeks. It appeared that I was under the microscope and once again having everything I do checked and analyzed. To say nothing of being called out in front of other employees and the girl whose boss (supervisor) I am. Neither of which had any grounds to blame me for the errors. One was a filing change that was made before I even began working there, the other was something that had never even been asked of me.

This week the main boss (one of the owners of the company) asked me how things were going and how I was doing... my first response was "OK" but then I decided in a split second to be honest and said "actually I am really frustrated right now". Of course he asked me why and what ensued was a meeting between him, my immediate boss and myself being scheduled for Thursday morning.

The original meeting was set for 9:00 am but did not actually take place until 2:30. The owner is very diplomatic and began with stating that I was asking about replacing the girl who had recently left and wanting to know what the future holds for the accounting department. Then he gave me the floor to state any concerns that I had. I began by stating I was feeling I had taken a step backward if in my employment there. My boss wanted to know what I meant by that. Basically I said that it appeared to me that where as before I was left to do my job and now he was checking everything I do... or that is how it appeared to me.

I don't want to write an expose on work but just state the short facts. He (my boss) explained that due to his overload of work with all the new programs that were being built and implemented he had neglected keeping up with everything else. He actually was not checking my work, at least that is what he said, but checking the everyday activities of the salesmen and confirming that the new program would work for the rentals by reviewing what was actually on the rental contracts. He also stated he needed to review that everyone was doing their job properly and following company procedures.

My response was that he needed to communicate this with me and what he was looking for and show me the types of errors that were being made, this way I could learn how the company worked and what was expected from everyone and catch errors at my level. I do not expect to have learned my job in the six months but I do expect to be taught the finer points of the position. Communication is the key factor, which was reiterated by the owner, he needs to share with me the errors so I know what to look for.

Of course this was all done politically correctly and I am not stupid to think that my work isn't being critiqued. This is the first time in all my 30 years of working in accounting departments that I have not been taken advantage off for my abilities but been made to feel incompetent. I must say that my boss did take time on Friday to point out to me things that he was looking for and errors that the salesmen had made in a couple of invoices, and explain other items of work during the day.

For now I will continue to work and hopefully learn, but, I do refuse to micromanage the one employee who is my responsibility. I want her to feel comfortable working with us and to know that if she has a problem with any part of her work as the receptionist / assistant to me, she is not intimidated and will come to me for help. I don't like being micromanaged and people do not learn when treated this way, it is extremely demeaning.

Here's hoping that Friday's improved communication will continue but I'm not holding my breath.

Blog Name Change

2010-03-06T14:36:00.003-06:00

Evette and Richard (aka: Smiley), that is my daughter and Son-in-Law, had suggested I change the name of my blog. I wasn't sure what to use. Smiley suggested; "Now that you "Mensch"-ion it..." . I wasn't sure, therefore, since my blog began it has been called "Where to Start" until I could come up with something else. Well obviously I never did, and Evette finally told me it is time to change the name of my blog.

So; here we have the new name: "Now that you "Mensch"-ion it...". What do you think? Shall I go back to "Where to Start" or do I stay with the new title as "Mensch"ed by my son-in-law?

The Bed Fire that Almost WAS!

2010-03-06T13:49:00.006-06:00

The Bottom of my Bed

This is how my bed looks at any time; two cat blankets on the foot of the bed on top of the dark blue duvet cover, to keep their fur contained, to a degree.

So the almost fire? At approximately 6:00 am this morning I woke. Probably because Richard had got up to get a drink of water; we have a water cooler on the landing outside our bedroom doors. As I became more aware I realised I could smell a smoldering smell. I checked and the bottom of my bed was extremely warm. I called Richard to check out the problem and this is what he found.

Under the duvet an orange coloured spot.

Under the top sheet the spot was more brown.

Under the bottom sheet.

Under the mattress cover

Under the mattress pad.

I know; you are now asking but what caused all this? On top of the mattress cover is a foot warmer. When I became an amputee I had a real problem with my remaining foot always being cold; probably because I have Renaud's Disease (another topic for another time).

Let's get back to the topic; the almost bed fire. I tried just wearing a sock at night but it really didn't help much and for those of you who know about cold feet, you just don't sleep very well when your feet are cold. Richard found a way to solve this problem and for Christmas 2006 he purchased a special gift for me.

The cause of the burning smell.

The Foot Warmer!

The foot warmer was a wonderful gift. Since Christmas of 2006 each winter I have used this in the bottom of the bed between the bottom sheet and mattress cover. It had two settings, high and low. Usually I would put it on high then sometime during the night turn it down to low, turning it off in the morning. It served me well. We never washed it or miss treated it; just used it in the cold season. What we now know, we will not buy another foot warmer, at least not this brand.

Richard and I this morning feel very blessed to have awoken before the singeing had gone through the duvet, the cat's blanket and reached the surface and oxygen because just maybe I would not be here, at least not in my chair, in our home, writing this blog this morning.

Both Richard and I believe that my guardian Angel was watching over me; as I pray each evening "

Luther's Evening Prayer

In the evening when you go to bed, make the sign of the holy cross and say: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Then say this prayer:

I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

This morning once the problem had been dealt with; the foot warmer pulled off the bed and thrown out of the room, and the bedding cooled and we ensured that there was no longer a danger; we both prayed a truly heartfelt thank you to our Heavenly Father that we had been protected this night.

Is Spring on the way?

2010-03-06T13:36:00.005-06:00

Katie enjoying the sun!

This picture was taken this morning as I sat in my chair having breakfast. The time? Approximately 11:00 am.

Although the mornings have been foggy and a cool minus 7 or so; by mid-morning the fog has gone and the sun has been shining. Katie is a sun lover and to me this is a sign of warmer weather and just maybe spring is around the corner. Katie will follow the sun as it moves across the floor until she can no longer find a sunny spot and then will curl up in Richard's chair.

Yes; although it is only the beginning of March and in Prince Albert, SK, the birds are beginning to return and chatter happily from their hidden spots in the trees; Spring is on it's way.

After being sick with bronchitis for almost 10 days; this fact has cheered me as I returned to work this past week. Happy Spring everyone! Maybe a bit premature but I need this.

Katie Needs it Too!

Forgetfullness

2010-01-23T11:19:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure if it is old age creeping up faster than I would like or that I am very tired constantly these days. I appear to be forgetting commitments in the evenings more often than ever before.

I agreed to assist with making the two banners for the congregations 50th Anniversary, which is in May. Before Christmas I went shopping with Gloria and we purchased the majority of the material that we would need. Last Wednesday, after the Anniversary Committee meeting Gloria and I stayed behind to draw the pattern. So far everything is working to schedule.

Last Sunday Gloria and I chatted and decided that on the next few Wednesday evenings we would meet at the Church, with anyone else who would like to assist, and do some work on the banners. This past Wednesday was the first one and I forgot. I had it written in my day-timer, but by the time I arrived home, had supper I had forgotten my commitment to go to the Church for banner making. Actually I didn't remember again until last night, when I went to bed it dawned on me that on Wednesday I had not gone to the Church.

Needless to say I feel really bad about the whole situation and this morning phoned Gloria to apologize, she was not home so I chatted with Bryan but he seem reticent about the whole thing or maybe didn't want to be involved. I asked him to pass my apologies on and I would see Gloria in Church on Sunday. No matter how tired I am if I say I will assist with a project unless there is some emergency I will be there.

I am puzzled though. Why did Gloria not phone me from the church to see if I was coming or to see if there was a problem and I couldn't get there. Actually I have not received a call to see if there was a problem or if I was unwell. I am absolutely puzzled as to the reason for the lack of a phone call. If it had been reversed I would have phoned, if not that evening, the next day to ensure the person was not ill or had an emergency. So am I missing something? Am I expecting too much of people? Is it just because I'm the Pastor's wife that I wasn't phoned? Or don't people do that these days and just think the worst?

The Beginning of a New Year

2010-01-01T14:49:00.002-06:00

Richard and I are not one's for staying up to see the New Year in... so, as usual, by 11:00 pm we were in bed. Sleeping a well earned rest, I might add. We were awoken by our door bell.

Who on earth would be calling at... 4:30 am? Richard hurried downstairs, as fast as his befuddled sleepy state would allow, to find a young lady curled up in my chair. That's right there was a young girl about 14 years old curled up in my chair. How did she get there?

Richard had forgotten to take the keys out of the back door and probably had not locked the door either, and it appears this was one evening when I did not check the door. Obviously this is not the best thing to do on New Years Eve. If the girl had not rung the door bell we probably would have gotten up this morning to the unwanted visitor.

I did not go downstairs right away because it would mean putting on my leg. When I heard the crying, if you could call it that, I decided it was prudent for me to make the effort to go and see what was going on. At the bottom of the stairs Richard was blocking them from the young lady. He explained that she was already in the house when he got down stairs and he had phoned the Police.

I led the girl back to the kitchen and tried to find out her name... to no avail. She was pretty wasted, had obviously been drinking sometime during the evening and also had some drugs or something in her system. She would not give her name, did say she had been hurt by someone and Richard was close by so chose him. I explained that that could not be as he had just arrived downstairs to find her in our home. She was extremely cold, shivering uncontrollably, had only a fairly light wool jacket on and was in stocking feet. She looked as if someone had hit her in the face, her lip was swollen and the skin broken. I asked her if she would like a hot drink and was in the process of making her a hot chocolate when the Police arrived.

It appears she is a regular run away from a Group Home here in PA. He asked her if she was a run away and asked if her name was ... ? She acknowledged both, he told her to get her shoes, but she said 'I don't want to pass those people' making out that we had hurt her. We explained that she did not have any shoes, had entered the house due to our carelessness in leaving the keys in the door.

The Police officer took the young girl out to his vehicle then came back to check all was fine with us and our home. We explained that although there was money on the table and bottles of medication clearly visible (Richard had renewed some of my prescriptions). She had touched nothing. The Officer told us that she is known by them as a repeat run away and had probably been attending a party that was a few blocks over from us. The lads that were shouting and swearing outside our house were probably looking for the girl and part of the partying crowd. He wished us a good night and left us to return to our beds.

I awoke next at 10:45. I also had to ask Richard if all this had happened in the night or if it was a dream. If it had been a dream we had both had the same one. So an eventful beginning to our New Year.

Work.. at least I think work

2009-11-15T22:01:00.002-06:00

I have now been at my new job for four weeks and am wondering if I will ever get to do all the work that should be part of the position. I would guess that I actually only work about 2 1/2 hrs each day of eight I'm payed to work. This is not of my choosing but all that my immediate supervisor is giving me. It is frustrating. He works most evenings and weekends but yet will not pass work to me. I am unsure if he doesn't trust my abilities or if he just has a hard time relinquishing control.

Take for instance payroll, this is supposed to be part of my position as Senior Accountant, there have been three pay periods and not one have been done by me. I was supposed to assist with Year End, which I have tons of experience with, and yet again, I have done absolutely nothing towards the year end process.

The days drag by and I'm more tired due to the lack of work. I believe it is time for me to sit down and ask for trust in my abilities and to be given work that takes advantage of those abilities.

It seems I've gone from one extreme to another when it comes to the amount of work that I have to do. At the hospital I had so much work that at times I was over loaded, here I am in a position with really no work at all to do.

This past week I actually stood up for myself, probably for one of the first times ever in my work life. The receptionist, front desk girl, worked her last day on Friday, and they will not be replacing her, at least not for the next while. I was asked to share time shifting with the junior accountant working until six to answer phones. This would be too hard on my body which needs to be fed at a regular time before six in the evenings, expecting me to act as the receptionist when I'm supposed to be the Senior Accountant. Everyone answers the phone at some time during the day, when the phones are really busy or when the receptionist is not available, but it's one thing to help out and another to be acting as the receptionist. This was not part of the job description I was interviewed for and am not being payed to just sit and answer phones. So I said no I was not willing to alternate working times in order to answer phones. It is one thing to work late because my responsibilities and actual work requires it but not to stay and answer phones.

This action may have hurt me during my three month probation period but I don't believe at my age I should compromise or need to compromise. If they end up letting me go then so be it.

Much Neglected Practice

2009-10-04T13:50:00.005-06:00

Recently my thoughts have been pondering the practice of Private Confession and Absolution. A much neglected practice in many of our Lutheran Churches (LCC) today. Yesterday Pastor Mike Keith posted a link to his Facebook wall and I would like to bring it to the attention of those who read my ramblings here at 'Where to Start'.

http://hope4thehapless.wordpress.com/2009/10/03/too-much-so-what/

Which in turn is the blog of Pastor Ken Maher, who was the previous Pastor here at Redeemer, Prince Albert. I pray, like me, it has you pondering and reflecting on the need to personally hear words of forgiveness spoken directly to you, rather than corporately during the Divine Service.

Telemarketers!

2009-10-02T16:08:00.003-06:00

I believe most people hate those calls that come during meal times or evenings. They used to try and sell you something or offer you a product but always with strings attached, or a survey that won't take very long. We were tired of telephone marketers so Richard and I decided to opt out of receiving such calls. We signed up for our phone number not to be called, so no longer would we get those annoying calls.

Little did we know things would get worse. That's right, worse. At least every other day, or so it appears we get a call which goes something like this:

"Can I speak to Veronica?" Ah; the first hint, only my mother and the government calls me Veronica.
The second hint: "You probably remember me as I phone you each year..." ummm! just a minute I've only been at this number for a few months (nine now).
The Third hint: : "I'm calling to tell you about a program... " aha! money is needed.
I very politely explain I cannot help.
"but this is for children, deaf people..." Do they not listen! I had politely told the party on the other end "No!" They continue on and do not apologize for bothering you or lying or disturbing you but carry on until you end up having to hang-up on them.

So what went wrong? We had signed up to NOT receive such calls, the catch, this sign up does not apply to charitable organizations or your own bank. That's correct. Now the regular telemarketers can no longer phone you the charitable organizations have filled that niche; just in case you were missing having those annoying calls.

The God Whisperers

2009-09-22T20:14:00.002-06:00

I just added a link to 'The God Whisperers'. To quote Pastor Mike Keith from his blog: "Pastor Bill Cwirla and Pastor Craig Donofrio host it and have lots of fun doing it. However, there is some great theological discussions on the show. They cover some very deep stuff but they do so in a very understandable way. Give it a listen!"

http://www.godwhisperers.com/

All New Flower Beds

2009-09-09T12:09:00.007-06:00

As most of my family know I love flower gardens, if I had my way the whole yard would be nothing but flowerbeds. That being said this is what I managed to accomplish this spring and early summer. Even though our spring was very late or non-existent on the nice days you could find me outside digging flower beds. In case you have forgotten what the back of the house looked like when we purchased it I've added a picture.

The back of the house faces South with the back of the shed facing East.

These beds are on the east and north side of the shed. We had to raise the east bed, while digging out the driveway, to make room for the motor home, we moved topsoil to areas that needed to be raised, the east side of the shed was one of those areas. Some of the plants have finished blooming, they are all new most are transplanted from parishioners gardens, divided perennials do not have many flowers the first year. The delphiniums are finished as are the tiger lilies, most of the colour comes from the few annuals that I purchased or members of the congregation gave me.

A closer view of the north side of the shed, the ornamental grass will probably be moved as I am thinking of adding a small water feature on that corner. I love adding rocks to the garden to give interest.
This is a small bed that I made by the steps, the bed is east of the deck and south of the house. You will notice I brought my old runners that were in the garden at Nipigon and Gram ma Emma's purse, my frog garden ornament is also there. The tall delphiniums are just about finished. I have lots of hens and chicks in both the shoes and the purse and the ground with a few other plants to fill in and a couple of annuals to add colour. My only flower box is on the deck to appear part of this garden.
On the east side of the house I found peonies, lots of peonies, which I dug up and once all the weeds were clear I replanted many of the roots, they never bloom the first year after transplanting. I plan to mainly have interesting greenery in this bed with hostas, elephant ears, Bergenia's, for flowers: columbines. Next spring I shall take advantage of the early sales on hostas to add here and I might just dig up most of the peonies as there are just too many.

The concrete patio has a small flowerbed against the south side of the house but the few plants I put here will be moved and will be replaced with planters to cut down on the amount of water that is sprayed against the house. As you see we love to encourage the birds to the garden, our cats TV. I find it hard always winding and unwinding the hose so it usually sits on the concrete as you see it in this picture, it doesn't look very tidy we will have to try something else to make watering easier for me.

This flower bed is on the west side of the house against the chainlink fence of the school playing field. I had two big cauliflowers in this small space which have been cut and eaten. The tall plants at the back, I have no idea what they are called, but they are a late blooming flower to add interest in the fall. I have various types of day lilies, a white veronica and a purple veronica (which isn't in the picture), the other flowers are annuals with of course my rabbit garden ornament.

I just had to take a picture of a cauliflower that is in the garden. This is the third one that was big enough to harvest, as you can see from the leaves this is truly organic no powder was used to keep the cabbage butterflies away so the heads have to be cleaned really really well to get rid of all the green caterpillars.

So there you are, my gardens that I worked on this year. Hopefully next year I can work on the front of the home to add colour and interest. Of course that will all depend on if we get the porch repaired or replaced. I hope you enjoyed walking with me through my garden.

2009-09-01T14:33:00.002-06:00

We are now into September and still nothing much has happened to write about. Last Friday I went for an interview, which I though went really well. It was an accounting position at a non-profit group who build and rent low rental units and are involved in various other activities. They are linked with the Habitat recycle shop, the Community Kitchens, and handle grant moneys for organizations that are not incorporated. I think it would be a good fit for me.

Looking for work when you have so much experience is tough. People don't want to pay a really experienced person, they only want to hire individuals with minimal experience. I don't even get phone calls to see if I would be interested. The other downside to looking for work here is they offer below average salaries, which means taking a cut in pay if I do get offered a job.

I do have lots to keep me busy at home though. Trying to keep the yard looking presentable without starting any new flowerbeds is hard work. Not the starting flowerbeds is easy. The lawn, if you can call it that, gets too long for our push mower which means once we've mowed I then have to go round and pull out the weeds that did not get cut because they were too high. We all know that weeds grow far faster than the grass. I would love to have the funds to rip the whole of the yard out and start again but there really isn't any point to doing that until we decide what to will do with the front porch.

The front porch needs leveling and does not have any proper footings. Putting footings under an existing porch will be hard. We are now considering ripping out the existing closed in porch to put up an open porch that would have the illusion of being a wrap around. If we do that where will the freezer live? We could purchase two smaller freezers to put in the basement and sell our large one, unless anyone can come up with a plan on how to get the large one into the basement. Once we have decided on the porch we then have to change the siding and we have no idea what is under the old wood siding. Landscaping will have to wait until we sort these two things out.

Keeping up with the house work is also very hard. With no air conditioning and sealed windows on the main floor, so no cross breeze, it isn't long before I am dripping and exhausted. Richard does the upstairs because there are carpets up there and it is too hard for me to vacuum.

The other things I have that can keep me busy are my many sewing projects that need doing, and of course there is always work to be done on my One Name Study. I recently finished transcribing all the entries in the USA 1930 Census for my BOXALL and variant name.

So there you have it although I haven't had any offers for work I do have enough to keep my days pretty full.

GOLDEN WEB

2009-08-03T12:08:00.008-06:00

One of the items that Richard brought home was this picture: Golden Web by Alison Kobylnyk of Victoria, BC. This is art made with materials. I've taken this on an angle so you can see the wonderful spider web detailing. As soon as I saw this picture I knew where it would hang.

Here it is hanging above my bed in the blue room. The colours in the picture just make the room pop. It is as if this picture was made for this room.

This is a gift from Aunt Moneca and I love it, one would almost think she had seen this room and knew exactly what it needed to finish the rooms decor.

The other gift that I am thrilled with are the windchimes from Mom. If you go to this website:
http://seagifts.com/chimofwesbyw.html
you will see what they are like. I've wanted a set of "Westminster" windchimes since Mom received hers on retiring from work it was at that moment I knew which chimes I wanted to have hanging in our yard. Richard is going to hang them high on our home because things are not that safe left out in your yards. But I will still hear them and enjoy them for years to come.

Once the chimes are hung I will post a picture here.

What happened on the way home!

2009-08-03T11:36:00.004-06:00

Once Richards nose is pointed t0wards home he drives as long as he is able, which is, more often than not, the rest of the way with very small breaks for snacks, bathroom and maybe a catnap. He will also work out a route that would miss major cities and lots of traffic.

Richard arrived home on Thursday morning at 8:30. He had dropped Aunt Moneca off, at her home in Salmon Arm, B.C., at Noon on the Wednesday. In theory he should not have been home until late Thursday afternoon.

This trip was true to form instead of using the major highways he took the less traveled ones, which didn't matter until he reach Saskatchewan. He decided to use highway 3 and reach Prince Albert from the north. What he didn't know was there was road works on that highway. He made a decision which proved to be a bad one for our vehicle.

I gather as he turned onto highway 3 there were three pilons across the road, which only left one small open lane on the opposite side of the road. There were no signs to give him any details, the one side was quite a bit higher than the other so his thoughts were the pilons were to indicate the difference in road height. There were tracks on the right side so he moved over to the right side so he wasn't driving towards oncoming traffic. The road surface felt weird but he figured that it had been oiled to keep the dust down. This was quite a long stretch and several vehicles passed coming from the other direction which would have meant he would still have had to move over to the right of the road.

To cut a long story short our car is now covered in tar, not a few splatters of tar, but a thick layer at the bottom and splattering up to the windows especially on the drivers side. you will see from the pictures, our car is black so it is a little difficult to tell. Let me just say that our hubcaps are not black but a mat silver.

This is the passenger side hubcaps are the correct colour but look at the lower section of door, see how black it is and the bottom of the bumper.

This is the drivers side, I know it looks very clean but that intense black is tar, check out the hubcaps and tire, the bumper and back light, all this is tar. The splatters are on the windows.

Here is a closer look at the back tire. We have yet to get an estimate on having this mess cleaned off but we believe it will be between $500 - $1,000.

The lesson here, it does not always pay to go the fastest and less traveled route.

Church Programs Wrap-up for the Summer

2009-06-30T14:47:00.003-06:00

I have never truly got used to Church programs stopping during the summer. You would think after all these years in Canada I would understand that summer time means holiday time. Our congregation has several groups; the voters meeting (which usually consists of the council and committee leaders) held their last meeting in June and will not have another one now until September.

Next to wrap-up for the summer were the Golden Agers. We were invited to have a picnic at Hilda's acreage. The day was a little on the windy side but several of us ventured outside to play bocce ball and another fun game, which was new to me, Bolo Toss or Ladder Golf;
http://thefuntimesguide.com/2005/10/bolotossladders.php
Several of us also took time to walk around Hilda's property admiring the many different plants and trees.

We picnicked inside on lawn chairs as it was a little too windy for most of the seniors to sit outside. There were a few brave ones, mainly the men, who sat on the deck. I joined the ladies inside as you can see. I still have my hat on, by now I was suffering from 'hat head' after being outside playing games.

We managed to tire Richard out and here you see him having 40 winks. The ladies thought that was funny and teased him just a little.

The last order of the day was to have cake and ice-cream. As I've said before you can't have a celebration with out a cake. They celebrated everyone's birthday that fell during January to June. We also gave special recognition to those who have not missed a Golden Agers gathering from September 2008 to June 2009.

The next group to wrap things up for the summer were the LWML. The ladies met at the church for supper which was catered so everyone could sit and enjoy the evening.

Here are just a few enjoying their meal. After we had eating we shared stories about our lives and had some fun with jokes and humourous articles that Gerdie had found. Pat brought everything to a close with a responsive Bible reading, songs and prayer.

These are our LWML ladies who will meet again in September. While the ladies were having their time together at the church Pastor invited the men to our home for an impromptu men's gathering where they drank beer, ate junk food and after a game of ring golf outside they watched Richard's sport highlight tapes that he has made over the years. I gather they had a good time although no pictures were taken.

The one event I am so happy will continue is the Sunday morning Bible Study. There are members who will not attend just because they aren't used to having Bible Study in the summer so our numbers are down but what a lot we are learning as Pastor opens up the parables to us.

Summer is here and families do many things together, but let us not forget that Christ should be first and foremost in our lives and Sunday Services will continue as they should.

10th Anniversary

2009-06-30T13:54:00.009-06:00

Richard has been a Pastor for ten years and our congregation celebrated with him by having a special luncheon. It was not possible for this to be a surprise as Richard does the bulletins each week and it was requested that he put an announcement in the Bulletin for this occasion.

As you see Richard is sitting in a chair while Brian Maier read the small devotion that is printed in the Lectionary for such an occasion. Just as a Candidate on the occasion of his Ordination sits on a chair in front of the congregation it was only fitting that Richard should once more sit on that chair during the devotion.

Unknown to Richard our Lutheran Life (Faith Life) chapter of the congregation wrote to Faith Life to inform them that their Pastor was celebrating his tenth anniversary. In recognition of this faith Life sent a cheque to be presented to Richard at this celebration. What a wonderful surprise. Brian Poir did the presentation.

Brian had a few more words to say then he past things to Pat Rocheleau.

Pat asked me to come forward where she presented me with a tray of annual plants for our garden in acknowledgment of my support to my husband and his ministry these past ten years.

And of course you cannot have a celebration without a cake. To add to the memories Verna did not know how to spell our last name. She did not realise that like her last name begins with 'sch' our's ends with it in true German form.

Pastor cut his cake, it was his special celebration so he cut the cake alone.

Prince Albert Relay for Life is

2009-05-31T19:26:00.006-06:00

On Friday May 29th I took part in the Relay for Life at the Harry Jerome Track in Prince Albert. This is an annual event where teams come together and walk around the track all night each member taking a turn or several members of the team on the track at a time. This all done to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Marjorie from our church felt I should take part so I signed up with Helen, Marjorie and Julie (Julie was unable to join us). There are many different coloured t-shirts handed out, the survivors of Cancer are yellow. Team members are white or they dress up in various constumes, committee members are orange, volunteers are blue.

Here we are waiting for the event to begin. Although the sun was shining the wind had picked up and was very cold. I was determined to have fun so I wore my fancy leg cover. It is supposed to be green lightening Richard says it looks like mold. I also had on a lime green t-shirt but had subsequently covered that with my sweater then the survivors t-shirt.

After much standing around while the various committee members and dignitaries gave their speeches, this was hard on me as I find it harder to stand still than I do to actually walk. We had various groups represented as our escort around the track. The RCMP Officers in their Red Serge. City Police, Firemen, Sea and Air Cadets and several other groups that I now forget. Two survivors carried a white banner on which each survivor taking part had outlined their hand with their name and how long they had been cancer free written in the middle. I have now been cancer free for 8 years.

Here we are doing our victory lap. As you can see I used my hiking poles to help keep me balanced I also find they allow me to have more stamina to take part in such activities where I need to do a lot of walking (for instance shopping).

The next set of photos show some of the teams that took part in the actual relay. One or more members of the teams would be walking all night. As the sun was going down it was getting colder. I had already finished my lap and was sitting down with Marjorie's extra jacket on and a blanket around my legs. It was hard to take pictures from this location so I finally went closer to the track to take these of the teams.

The name of this team is the Saskatchewan Penitentiary.
This team had several youngsters and they all wore top hats and tails and carried canes they looked so cute.
This picture really doesn't do the Legal Eagles justice! They wore black gowns with their white wigs and bird beak on the forehead.

These are only a few of the 80+ teams that participated. Once everyone had circled the track once the official relay began. We went off to the Survivor's tent to have a bite to eat and a hot drink to warm up. Once we left the tent we did another lap of the track.

During the evening and night there would be entertainment. While we were still there they were shaving heads of those who had raised money for this event. One girl had raised $11,055 to have her hair cut off. Even though it was getting to be very cold I was glad I was there to witness this event. There were 200+ survivors signed up for the victory lap but many did not show probably due to the weather.

I decided I would like to walk the track again, this time to find my luminary.

This is my bag. They have a special coating on the bags so they do not burn, then holes in the sides, sand is placed in the bag and a candle. At 10:30 pm they would light all the candles. The bags lining the track were either for those who are survivors or in memory of those who have lost their battle with cancer. Marjorie told me she wrote 800 of the bags, she did this one for me and wrote the inscription on the bottom.

As we walked around the track we looked for her mother's and husband's who had both lost the battle and her's. We also looked for a few other luminaries of other family members of her friends or church people.
Hear I am standing behind my luminary.

At 10:30 the Luminary Ceremony began. The Prince Albert Highland Pipe Band played Amazing Grace while the candles were all lite. Then there was a minute of silence while we remembered all those who had lost the fight. After that Megan Fournier sang Ava Maria. I was not able to get a picture of the sign once it was lite up but you can imagine how moving it was, not only to see these all glowing but also all the bags around the track. They would be left burning all night.

By the time we left for home, around 11:00 pm, I had actually walked the track three times, not all at once, but at various times in the few hours we were there. I've had trouble getting back to walking any distance this year so I am proud of my accomplishments during this activity.

Snow in May

2009-05-07T10:47:00.003-06:00

Not only can you see the snow we had yesterday but you can also see our house. Two days ago we had temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius, today the temperature is -2 with snow on the ground. It matches how I'm feeling, I have my first cold in at least three years.

As you can see all the trees that we wanted removed are now history. The City came and took out the Maple by the house and pruned the three that are left. We still have the two Spruce in the front and another two in the back. The house should be able to breath and maybe the rot in the siding will slow down.

You would be amazed at how much brighter it is inside our home. No longer do we have that closed in feeling. Now we can see out the windows we plan to utilize the porch during the summer. Our couch, that would not fit inside the house, we will put on the porch through one of the side windows, which we can now access with the trees gone. The freezer we will move to the other side of the porch so we can utilize the larger window. We will fix the coffee table and put that out there in front of the couch, put a table cloth over the freezer so it can act as a table. Richards bike we will store in the basement or shed depending where it will fit.

Spring Clean Up

2009-04-18T14:53:00.008-06:00

One of the biggest jobs outside is the spring clean up. So this week I began the task of raking up previous years leaves and grass cuttings. I started on Wednesday and the first picture shows how much I accomplished first time out . I began at the Maple on the side of the house, which the City is supposed to be removing for us and managed to get half way down the length of the house on the East side.

The following day I began at the same Maple but this time worked towards the avenue. These photos do not really give a true idea of how much leaves and grass is actually being raked up.

Friday I gave my body a rest and began again today, Saturday. I finished raking under the spruce, again this tree will be removed, and worked towards the Maple in the corner, which the City will prune for us. I cleaned from the sidewalk around the power pole and Maple creating another pile of leaves etc.

My efforts for today were not complete, I began raking the other direction across the front of the property. I cleaned under the Spruce and the other side of the Maple and worked towards the next Maple tree. By this time I was beginning to ache so decided to try another activity.

Still in the front yard. Having no success finding the ice chipper, Richard probably locked it in the shed and I don't have a key, I use the ice chipper in the Spring and Summer as an edging tool, I made do with the spade. We wanted to know how far our front sidewalk went and so I scraped out the overgrown lawn edges only to find out that it does not go very far from the step near the Maple trees. There is a chance there could be another step here and I need to dig down further to find the path but I don't think that is the case.
As I was already in the front with the spade I figured it would be a good idea to the lawn at the front sidewalk. This is my efforts for today, there is a good six to eight inches of grass grown onto the sidewalk. I worked back to the same level as my pile of raked leaves and called it a day. I'll suffer tomorrow for my efforts but seeing the yard beginning to look clean and a little cared for is well worth the pain of the next few days. It's weird but I have always done the raking from the moment I first lived in a house with a garden. Neither my first husband nor Richard have ever been predisposed to do any raking, without my efforts it would never get done. Come to think of it I believe I did a lot of the raking when I was a child too.

A Visit from Ian

2009-04-17T16:27:00.004-06:00

This picture was taken yesterday morning (April 16th). At 8:00 am the phone rang; it was Ian "had we had breakfast yet?" No we hadn't so he asked us to wait and he would be here in about and hour and a half.

He had taken the Greyhound bus from Calgary to Saskatoon to purchase a truck he had seen advertised. An acquaintance had checked the vehicle out for him once Ian had a good report he agreed to purchase the truck. So here he was in Saskatoon just over an hour away from us.

I was so excited. Our children do not visit very often and I miss them all so very much. To have one of them, out of the blue, tell us they will be at the house within the two hours was wonderful.

Once here we headed out to Smitty's for breakfast and had a great time visiting. Discussing his work and how happy we are living here in Prince Albert. The shame was he could not stay long as he was on duty the next day. Once we were back at our house he took a short nap and then had a shower. Richard and Ian took a quick spin in the new vehicle going to NAPA for an air filter and Richard needed a replacement for the sledge hammer he had purchase from Canadian Tire just the other day, the handle had split on him. So they took Ian's truck and ran their errands.

It was sad that he could only stay for a short time, but I would take just a short quick visit like that than the years of not seeing any of our children.

This is one happy Mum still basking in the visit from her son.

Work or not to work

2009-04-17T15:31:00.003-06:00

My plan, once we had settled, was to find a job where I could work just three days a week, preferably Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

I had seen a bookkeeping position advertised for quite some time, at least since January. The company were looking for someone with just basic bookkeeping skills and about three years of experience. As it was a full-time position I kept passing it by. I got to thinking about it and thought I could probably do the job in three days each week. I decided that I would offer my services but for three days a week. I felt I had more experience than they were looking for and was sure I could do the work in less time. Knowing that the industry they were in would not really have very much work in the winter.

I phoned the company, went for an initial interview. It sounded like they would be willing to make the position part-time. I left the interview feeling very confident, they wanted to check my references before proceeding any further.

I received a phone call the following week asking me to come back to discuss the position and wages. He had spoken to my previous employers and said that to his enquiry they informed him I had left very good manuals for that position. At once bells began to ring. Why would he want to know if I left manuals on how to do my job? What bearing did that have on the position he was offering?

Anyway I went to chat with him again, this time he had me write a test. I was not impressed but took his test. After checking my answers we talked again about the position.

This is what he finally offered me. For $15 an hour he would want me to complete the previous years Financial Statements and clean up the mess that had been left by the previous person. She had left in July and their year end was November. He expected me to complete this in three weeks. He wanted me to write a manual for the position with a completion deadline of five maybe six months. Plus keep the everyday work up to date. All for the grand wage of $15.00 an hour. If I meet his deadlines he would bonus me back $5 an hour for the first deadline and then maybe another $3 or $4 an hour after the next deadline.

None of this sat well with me. There was no safeguard for me, he could utilize all my abilities and not like what I do or put other hurdles in the way. There was no guarantee that he would actually pay me a final wage of $23 or $24 an hour. Not only did I feel completely insulted by his offer but felt his intent was to use me. Once he had what he needed that would be the end of the position for me. Of course he did mention other perks such as cost plus 10% on any stock items I purchased; and the company gas credit card once in a while if I used my car for company business. Both of these items I would expect.

He kept telling me he had been burned in the past and did not intend to have that happen again. He also told me he had another person he was thinking of hiring but she would take more training than I would and was looking for full-time work. I told him I don't have to work I was just looking to get out of the house for a few days each week.

My final decision was; thank you but no thank you. I told him $15 an hour was far too low even with the possible bonuses.

I was not putting myself it that sort of position where he held all the cards. As for the other person who he was considering hiring, obviously a fabrication, in the week-end paper was an advert for the bookkeeping position. I'm not so desperate for work that I would take a position that paid me almost $10 an hour under what I believe I'm worth.

What a great day

2009-03-27T18:41:00.007-06:00

All my cards and my flowers

Tuesday was my birthday and I had a wonderful day because my darling husband made it special. On Monday he handed me a lovely bouquet of flowers. I love flowers in the house even if I do have to keep them away from our cats. Lucky enough in this house I have a lovely mantel where the cats do not get.

My Birthday morning arrived I awoke to my first treat, a special cup of English toffee coffee nice and frothy and the first of many cards. Once up and about the treats and cards continued to come. I opened the cupboard where I keep my bullet cups for making my morning smoothie and there in the cup was a bag of maltesers, I love maltesers. There was another card on my chair. Richard went off to the church to work and I continued getting ready for the rest of my day.

Richard came home for lunch with the news that he would be staying home for the evening. Tuesday is his night for teaching confirmation class, the class was canceled for that evening, not because it was my birthday,one of the girls was not well. We decided that we would decide during the afternoon if we would go out for supper or stay home.

As I had plans to go out for the afternoon Richard went to the gym to work-out as usual. Jeanette from church picked me up at three and drove me over to Shananigans coffee house. Gerdie met us there and we had special coffee and a fruit cup dessert. Jeanette was disappointed that none of the other ladies from church were able to join us. It was a great afternoon out.

As I had already gone out during the afternoon I was quite happy to stay home for the evening. Before Richard prepared supper he handed me another birthday bag which had a bar of Walker's Traditional Slab Toffee inside. I have been craving this toffee for months and it is hard to find here in Canada. On Sunday we went into Winners, after lunch with Pat and Merv, where Richard saw the English import of my favourite toffee. Of course that wasn't the only item in the bag there was another card.

Supper was Richard's wonderful chili with chopped fresh tomatoes and grated cheese on top. It was so good. I always like something sweet after dinner and Richard out did himself. He had purchased a toffee cheese cake which he served with toffee crunch ice cream, fresh raspberries and blackberries, talk about decadent.

Another bag was handed to me with yet another toffee slab and card. Then came my main gift. I have a brand new Sony Vaio Laptop computer. Of course I am using this evening to type this blog. The first advantage of of having a laptop is that I can sit in front of the TV and type while watching my favourite shows and spending time with Richard.

What made the day so special were the phone messages that I received. Yes it meant I had missed all the calls from the children but each one had left a message for me. First one was Kegan wishing Nanny a Happy Birthday, it was so cute. Next was Ian with a happy birthday wish and a reminder of his phone number. The final message was from Evette with a promise that she would phone later, which she did later in the evening once Zachary was in bed.

I love having birthdays, I never worry and it does not bother me how old I get, I love the fuss that my darling husband makes of me. Many will think six birthday cards a bit overboard but I love cards and love the fact that he puts them where I will find them and be surprised. My last card was on my pillow when I turned in for the night.

Thank you Richard for making my day so special.

5 Pin Bowling

2009-03-20T16:57:00.003-06:00

On Sunday the congregation had an afternoon out to 5 pin bowl and pizza afterwards. Richard signed us both up for the fun.

I have not been 5 pin bowling since my kids left to live with their father. Of course I had two good legs back then. Also back then I would pride myself in not being too bad a bowler.

Bowling today is quite a challenge (different from bowling in our living room on the Wii too!). The first hurdle was finding bowling shoes that would fit my prosthesis, no success so they allowed me to wear a clean pair of runners that I brought with me. Verna had mixed up the teams really well, I was with Merv, Mark and Sheila. The two guys were obviously fairly good especially Merv who bowled a 232 on his second game this also was the high score of the afternoon. Sheila and I were fairly evenly matched although by the third game she did a lot better than me.

It was weird not being able to do my old stride forward and let the ball go. I had to walk to the edge of the alley, take a deep breath to focus my mind, aim, and then throw the bowling ball. I couldn't get the correct balance at all, by the third game I was over compensating for my lack of balance first right then left, gutters that is. I only managed one strike and no spare on all three games. I was disappointed I could not break 100.

I'm still proud of the fact that I went out and bowled. I didn't just watch because of my amputation, I actually participated. The time after the bowling was great, sharing pizza with everyone who came out. Richard took some time out to teach the teens how to play pool or billiards, not sure which one, they had a blast. This was a good Sunday afternoon of entertainment with our new church family and I look forward to many more.

Sorry there are no pictures but Richard and I forgot to bring our camera and I guess everyone else did to, so no pictures of the wild event.

Outside Jobs Planned

2009-03-13T13:02:00.005-06:00

These are not new pictures but old ones I've put notes on to make it easier to explain the work to be done, hopefully, in the Spring. That is, if spring ever comes!

This is the front of our home and as you can see there is so much forest you can barely see the house. The first order of the day is to get quotes to remove four trees and the two cedars from the property. Here I've marked the two cedars to be removed.

I've marked three tress here. Numbers 1 and 2 are probably Elms, although they could be Maples, and they are probably on City property. If they are Elms we have to remove or prune before April 1st as per a City by law; Maples can be removed and pruned anytime.

Now if they do belong to the City and we cut them down there will be a fine. The fine being the value of two fully grown mature trees. Number 1 tree has grown against the house and is beginning to cause moss damage to our roof. If we do nothing to the tree our roof will need replacing a lot sooner than the estimated 6 to 8 years from now.

Tree number 3 is a spruce and is on our property therefore will be removed. Number 4 tree (not in any picture) is a Maple in the far bottom corner of our property. This area we intend to level in order to a place to park our motor home. The dirt from here will be used to regrade the land on the west side of the house.

I've called four tree removal companies and received two quotes to date. The first one is for $1,565, not including stump removal. The 2nd quote for exactly the same trees is for $790, also not including the stump removal. We still have two other companies to give us quotes. The City still needs to let us know if trees 1 & 2 are theirs and if they will remove them. If not both at least tree number 1 by the side of the house.

The next project; the need to replace all the eavestroughing on both sides of the house and along the front of the porch. Again four companies were contacted initially over a month ago, having heard from none of them I recontacted them two weeks ago. So far only one has been out to discuss what we would like and take measurements. No quotes have been received but we should here by Monday from the first company.

With the Eavestroughing we to remove the existing flashing that joins the porch to the house and replace it with flexible flashing. Once this is done the leaks into the porch should stop. We have also requested a quote for a zinc strip to be placed on the porch roof to stop the moss from growing there. The house faces north and this part of the roof will always be prone to moss growth even with the trees taken out. The house inspector informed us that the Zinc strip will impede the moss growth. This quote will also come from the companies who quote on the eavestroughing.

Men and Church Attendance

2009-02-26T11:39:00.003-06:00

Over the last ten or so years I have wondered why we see less men attending church. This morning I put the question to my Pastor, who also happens to be my husband, none the less he is my Pastor. Why are men less likely to be faithful attenders to Church services, and why are our services predominantly female? Do men not recognise their need for Christ in their lives?

We would say there is no easy answer to these questions but maybe the answer that my Pastor gave me is the simple answer which should make us sit up and listen. The first answer that obviously comes to mind is that as our congregations age they do become predominantly female as women live longer than men. But, and a big but, this is too simple of an answer. It also becomes an excuse and we do not delve any deeper into the question.

My Pastor believes that we have feminised God. What does he mean by that? So much of Christendom has become about feelings, you know the touchy, feely, stuff. Many written Bible Studies are more about us and what we have or have not done and should do. Are we acting like the people we find in the Bible who we often show to be wonderful role models? Are we reaching out in understanding and love? The 'love' that is so often put out there in Christendom is the touchy feely type of love. The type of 'love' that women understand, but what of the men?

Take a look at contemporary Christian music that has flooded the markets and our Christendom homes in the past few decades. Are they not more like love songs to and about Jesus or God? Don't they talk more as if our Triune God is our boyfriend? As a woman I can understand these lyrics but are they relevant to who our Triune God truly is?

Now lets return to the males of our species. We women know men truly do not understand our touchy feely actions and talk. They just don't get it! But have we not made our Lord and Saviour into a touchy feely person? We talk of a loving God but only in the essence of our feminine understanding. We don't show God as a Judge who hates our sin and cannot have us in His presence, unless we are robed with the Righteousness of Christ. This does not reflect a touchy feely God!

So the next question has to be; how do we return our teachings and actions to reflect our Triune God as he truly is? How do we turn the tables to show Jesus Christ and Him crucified for us and taking the punishment that we deserve from being a touchy feely type of person to a God understood and relevant to men. We so want God to be accessible, to be our friend, that we have placed Him out of reach to the average man, God is no longer relevant or understandable or recognisable as needed their lives.

No the answer is not so simple as an aging population which has become predominantly female but one of placing God out of reach for the male side of creation, making Him no longer relevant to them, because men do not understand touchy feely!

Lent

2009-02-24T12:00:00.003-06:00

Today is Shrove Tuesday but unlike other churches and organizations Redeemer Lutheran Church does not have a Pancake supper on Shrove Tuesday. We begin Lent with a Pancake Supper on Ash Wednesday. Pancake Supper at 5:00 p.m. and then Ash Wednesday Service at 7:00 p.m.

The congregation place a advertisement in the Monday "What's On" Section of the PA Herald. Our insert for this week reads Ash Wednesday pancake supper Feb. 25, 5-6:30 p.m. at Redeemer Lutheran Church... Each Wednesday during Lent the Ladies provide a soup and bun supper before the service.

What really made me chuckle was the insert for the following weeks of Lent.

I believe this could be included into the Church bloopers that we so often read in those various emails that circulate.

Our New Church Home

2009-02-24T11:25:00.005-06:00

Redeemer Lutheran Church, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan

December 14th Installation

The day of Richard's installation was very cold and only the District President and Circuit Counsellor were there for the Service. This is the official after service picture.

February 2nd; Golden Agers!

Richard qualifies for the Golden Agers because he is the Pastor; I qualify because... well... I'm old enough. This is the 2nd Golden Agers we have attended. Golden Agers is the first Monday afternoon of each month and February the theme was 'Hawaiian'. Richard and I came dressed for the occasion, here we are arriving for our afternoon of fun.

They play games and this is Pastor's favourite, Crokanol. I do believe he won. Gerdie and Rowland also in this picture were our kind hosts when we arrived officially in PA, we stayed with them until our furniture arrived.

And here I am playing Kaiser. I'm not a very good card player but it is all in good fun. The ladies tease me a little because I don't play very well. We also had a light snack of Hawaiian punch, mixed fruit and various other finger foods. It was a great afternoon. I'm actually enjoying being part of the Golden Agers Group.

Meeting New People

2009-02-11T10:05:00.004-06:00

On Monday I finally had a well earned massage. Knowing how beneficial a massage is to my mobility I can't believe I have not had one for two years. The only reason I can give for not keeping up a regular routine is just that I worked full-time and once home it was hard to get me to go out again. Not a very satisfying excuse I must admit. It seems the older I get the less I want to do out of the house. Which is really stupid on my part because I'm a strong extrovert and keep my batteries charged by being around other people.

When I've been out visiting I come home full of energy and ready for anything; but yet I find myself reluctant to go out on my own. I leave Richard to run the majority of the errands preferring not to bother.

Another thing I have noticed over the last few years is my reluctance to get involved in things. Yet new is good considering we have moved from Edmonton, AB to MacNutt, SK to Nipigon, ON and now Prince Albert, SK all since 1999.

When we moved to MacNutt I made every effort to make friends with people in the area. I made of point of going to their homes for coffee and meeting at the local coffee house at least once or twice a week. I was active and made lots of new friends. That was the last time I have made such an effort. In Nipigon it was a whole new kettle of fish. It seemed people weren't as forth coming and the dropping in at each other's homes didn't seem to be the thing to do. Then I began working full-time so it took me out of the loop completely. Slowly over the next four and a half years I became more and more a recluse.

Now here we are in a new location with a chance to start afresh and make new friends, but I'm reluctant to venture out on my own. I have a good excuse, Richard takes the car every morning to the church so I don't have any wheels. I can't use that excuse in the afternoon and I more often than not tell Richard no I won't go shopping with him I'll just stay home. I've become afraid to venture out on my own to make new friends.

I always thought I made friends easy and that I was a likable person, that I was easy going, but maybe I'm not who I thought I was. Maybe I've always struggled but never really noticed because when your young you don't think about these things. Then the children come along and you have something in common with the other mothers and neighbours and life is busy. Then the children are gone and you have to make the effort to make friends. It's easy when you work because then you have co-workers and the need to be around others is taken care of by work interactions. Of course if you stay in one place for most of your life then you do retain the friends you made over the various stages of that life, but that hasn't been an option for me.

When I emigrated to Canada I had to start afresh making new friends, but it was not difficult because at first I worked, then I had the children. It is moving now when you have an empty nest that the struggle starts. Three and a half years in one location then you move and you spend five years there and now here I am once more in a new place. I must admit I'm running scared. Will people really like me? Do they want to be my friend? Should I work and make friends that way? Should I insist Richard walk to work and leave me the car?

It's so much easier just to stay at home. I'm not going to get hurt that way, or am I? I've made the first step, I now have a regular scheduled massage appointment every two weeks. It's a new beginning.

First Official Visitors

2009-02-06T10:24:00.004-06:00

Wednesday evening we did our first entertaining in our new home. Many have been in the house before we moved in. Not to forget Lloyd and Neal who have been back and forth doing various repairs in the house. This would be the first chance for anyone to see the house transformed into a home.

On Sunday I made a point of inviting Pat and Merv over to visit with us before they head for holidays. Wednesday was the night chosen. I spent the day cleaning floors, dusting and picking up items that were in the wrong place. Of course as usual I did more than I should and by early evening had a migraine. Richard suggested cancelling but I said no. I took medication and hoped that it would keep the migraine under control. I'm so very glad that I chose to suffer through the pain as getting Merv and Pat's reaction on our home was great.

If you remember from our post in November when we were house hunting here in Prince Albert, Pat and Merv came with us to view this house, being about the third or fourth time we had been to see it. They were not happy with our choice, they pointed out how filthy it was and small and old, but we could see beyong that and our minds were made up.

So here we are the first week of February two months later. They were shocked on the transformation. Pat said they could now see what we were seeing through all the filth. Her first impression was how inviting the house was as they walked in. The next impression was how spacious it appear even with all our stuff, and as Pat said, we have a lot of stuff.

They took the tour and at each new view they were shocked. The colour I had chosen for the stairwell worked they were impressed at what a great choice it turned out to be. All the pictures up the stairs worked as a gallery of family shots. The orange room, now blue, was so much bigger looking and clean. Even the paneling on the other two rooms worked by giving a rustic look and feel to them. They thought we had painted more areas and rooms than we actually had which goes to show what a great job the ladies had done cleaning the house.

It is great to have new friends and to have them now see the vision we had when we first viewed this old and dirty house. Making friends can be hard but I feel that Pat and Merv will be regular visitors to our home and we to theirs. We are now planning our Open House for the church members and those who worked on the house before we moved so they can see the transformation of a dirty house to being a clean home.