Another Work Day

Monday morning and no snow on the ground. Things are improving! It is still wet but the sky is opening up a bit and I can see blue sky in spots. That is still better than snow falling. A high of 17C tomorrow which is ok. I think by Wed when I am off work I will go get some plants and start planting (if my back feels better by then).

I slept ok last night but needed a pain killer for my back. I woke up stiff and my lower back is 'touchy'. Sitting at work today I will have to make sure I don't sit too long. It needs to keep bending a bit. I took a pain killer this morning and now at noon I am thinking about it again. Don't want to become dependent on them but maybe for the interim I will have another one.

I need to plan my SM info meeting for June 13 as it will be here before I know it (or before I am ready). It should be easy to do but I still need to follow-up with stuff and that always takes longer than you think.

This month (June) we are off to Mayfield Dinner Theatre, a sleepover weekend with my ladies group, SM Info meeting, a trip to Vancouver mid-month and my brother & family coming to visit near the end of June. All things I am looking forward to do. Also, the usual, the regular and the unexpected. Should be a fast month.

Is it just me or is time going faster than usual? I sure notice the weeks flying past. I wish I could say I was getting a lot done in that time frame but I am not. I still need to cleanup the spare room which is piled with ...???... not really sure but 'stuff'! I would like to be more organized in that room but I doubt much will change.

Ok, well lunch is over and it's back to work. Hope everyone else is enjoying their day too!

White Christmas?

Yikes! we were in for a surprise when we landed back in Edmonton early Sun morning. Snow on the ground and still falling! My toes were cold and my ankles. I had on a light sweater but thankfully we had a car left for us at the airport and we were able to get into it and out of the airport quickly. We did know before we left that Calgary had snow but only saw pictures of supposed snow in Edm while we waited for our flite. Baggage was already stowed away. One thing is sure...the grass is green and everything looks great. I was happy to put on my slacks, shoes and a jacket. I still love the weather here - even if it is a little cool. I think I like it better than hot, hot, hot!

I had a bit of a slip on the back step at lunch today. Not sure what happened, maybe I missed a step, don't know but it felt like I broke my back and I crashed against the patio table and did not want to move - just in case. I was able to get up slowly but ohhhhhh did it hurt. I took a few pills and went to lie down after applying some Tiger Balm to my lower back. Ouch, ouch, ouch. It is still stiff and I think I will be sore in the morning too. Again...not sure what I did but I sure did something!

Back to work tomorrow. Routine once more. Tomorrow is May 31st. It would be my mom & dad's 68th anniversary if they were alive. Of course, dad would be 96 and mom would be 91. Unfortunately, dad died when he was 77 and mom 81 but it is still nice to remember their special day. Some dates just live with you for a lifetime.

Well, enough reminiscing. Off to bed with a tylenol and alcohol rub. Tomorrow is another day!

Paradise!

It's another day in paradise! Well, if you consider 99 F a good thing - which of course, we do.  We were, however, looking for shelter and air conditioning. From the car, to the store or restaurant, and back to the car. We did go for an outside walk in Cave Creek yesterday. John and I had been there last year so we took our friends there too. It was just too warm to do much hiking or walking around. We went for an ice cream to a pizza/ice cream store and the ice cream was melting inside the store (smelled funny too) so we passed and went to the traditional DairyQueen store for a sundae. Headed out to see a few places and then ended up for supper at P.F. Chang's. Hot stuff. Walked around and looked at the upper end clothing stores (didn't buy anything) and then home for an early evening. Tried to get our boarding passes on-line but U.S. Airlines computers were down (or something like that). So...we will try it again this morning.

We have to check out by noon today and then we have to be at the airport to return our car etc by 5:30 so today will go by fast. At least our return home tonite at 8 pm will be a direct flite - not like our 8 hr flite down here. Oh well, can't complain when it is not coming out of our pocket book!

Another hot one here 98F so will enjoy it while we can. I can see there is snow in Calgary and rain and cool temps in Edmonton. Ahhhh, don't you just love the diversity in Alberta?!!!  Looking forward to just going home.

Keep well.

92 Degrees

Well, it appears that we are NOT attending the conference here as we first thought. It took a lot of time and unfortunately, wasted time, but in the end, we are not going. We girls have been 'looking around' at things and somehow, time flies by. We met the boys for lunch and now we are arranging coffee's and supper's with friends who live here - one for tonite and one for Thurs nite. The other time will be 'free time' for the four of us and we plan on 'driving somewhere' to see the sights (I think).

Weather is unbelieveable. Today it is 92 or thereabouts. What could be nicer than doing nothing, eating whatever, and planning on fun stuff. If that is not relaxing, well....

I found out last night that I had planned a meeting for this Wed in Edmonton. Ooops. I am apologizing all over myself but I guess I forgot to read the whole email in January. I diarize everything so I know I missed it. Not on purpose but it doesn't make a difference now since we are a few miles apart! They are looking at rescheduling for June so I can be there (I think). Perhaps they think it would be easier to have the meeting and just tell me what took place! Right now, I think that might be a good idea. Saves work on my part. Lazy, lazy!

We are heading to the Oulet Stores tomorrow. Today, we will relax...maybe the pool...maybe just read a book.

Keeping you updated with the good life...

In Phoenix

Well, we made it to Phoenix on Sunday. Did not get into bed here until 2 am Edmonton time. They are one hour behind us. We were bushed this morning. Went out at 8:30 am for breakfast, walked around a bit and then decided to head out to Sedona for a drive and check things out. Viewed the town. Unbelievable how much it has grown since we were there a few years ago. It was a beautiful day to go for a drive. We are not hungry (been snacking all day) and definitely need to get some exercise but it is time once again to eat (supper). It is now 7:45 pm and by the time we go out and eat, it will be 8:30 (9:30 Edm time). I know, I should not be living on Edm time anymore but I can't help it.  Definitely need to get to bed and get some rest.

We will be registering tomorrow morning at 8 am as we did not do it today! We will be rushing out. Not sure if we ladies are able to get into the sessions without paying extra but we will see tomorrow. If we have to..we will pay! Sessions are everyday till Friday. Then we are free. We don't leave until Sat night about 8:30 pm.

The weather here is warm (not hot) but much better than Edm at the moment. Tomorrow it is supposed to be 30 and by Thur 36. Too hot but so happy it is air conditioned here! Beautiful hotel, great beds.

Keep tuned in to hear what else we are up to. Picture is of the Church on the Hill outside Sedona. Amazing to look at and the view from up there is even more amazing!

A Rainy Day

It's been an interesting week. We had a great weekend in Jasper at our Conference. Coming home it registered 30 C so the weather is cooperating. What a great time to be in the mountains! John took off to the farm on Sun afternoon and I worked Mon Tues so time has gone by pretty quick. My Stephen Ministry was Wed nite and tonite our Life Team is helping to cook/serve/cleanup at the Alpha meeting. Since most people work, we have ended up doing a lot of the food prep. One other guy did the chili and I helped another lady with washing and cutting up the lettuce etc for Caesar salad for 40 people. I am headed back there to start setting stuff up as we will be serving at 6:30 but need to setup for 5 pm.  John of course is at the farm so he will not be helping.  The weather changed yesterday and it has been raining and overcast since Tues evening. Today it felt like Vancouver. Drizzly, overcast but warm. My hair is feeling it! Poor little drowned rat!

This Sunday we are headed to Phoenix for a Conference. It is about the next wave of Seniors and all that will entail in the Nursing Home, Day Home, Assisted Living setting. I am looking forward to it. Of course, Phoenix is a nice place to go too. We are gone for a week.

So, that's about it. Have not seen our grandkids since Feb.25. We are due a visit - which will be next month! Yeah! I am counting the days.

How Hard Can It Be?

How difficult can it be to figure our clothes for the weekend? We leave tomorrow for Jasper Park Lodge. It requires a little different planning than going to the farm, out to Vancouver, or camping! It's a bit of a ritzy place. This year we are not in the fancy main dining room as they are renovating so it should be a little LESS ritzy. Nevertheless, it requires a plan. Three nights of fancy outfits (one night group photo shot), three breakfast/lunch outfits and a few casual afternoon ones. My worst problem is that I need to wear the same shoes (except my runners) for all the outfits. That means, no dresses. I haven't worn a dress for years. I always end up taking more than I need (a lot more, so says John!). However, you need that as clothes do match your moods. So I need a few 'mood outfits'. The ladies would know what I mean. Anyway, I have spent the better part of today figuring out and matching up things. Hopefully, I won't disappoint myself once I get there and try things on again. At this point, I am just looking forward to Sunday and the drive home!!!

More Than I Bargained For?

I tried something I have never attempted before. Downloading a program. It is very time consuming. I had been wondering how I would get all my little videos that I took of the house wrecking into one little movie clip and no one seemed to have any answers. As I was on my hotmail this morning, a little promo came up and said I could do home movies. How did it know?? Anyway,I tried it! Well, it took more than 1/2 hr to load and even then I was thinking perhaps I should stop it. It was loading all sorts of things that I thought I didn't really need. When was it going to get to the movie portion? Eventually, almost the last thing...it finally loaded it. I tried it right away and it seems to be working. I am not sure how many OTHER things I ended up with that will cause me a nightmare but so far so good. Wish me luck.

Great Weekend!

We had a great visit to the farm this past weekend. Left on Thur morning and came home Sat night. Had a good chat with mom and she seemed to be in good spirits. One thing that really caught us off guard though was the plan to tear down the old homestead house which has been in the farmyard for over 60 years. It has definitely been there since I came on the scene!

This is the place I stayed at when I first met John and we had a lot of dinners and breakfasts, coffee chats and general family stuff here. It had a small kitchen but everyone was in it. It was lots of fun for everyone (except the cook)! Anyway, it's familiar face from the road will be missed. It was the end of an era to see it go.  Yes....it went! "The Claw" arrived and took it down!  Took about 3 -4 hours but it went down and the hole was filled in and smoothed out. Watching the end of an era was emotional. It just pointed out that time marches on and does not wait for anyone. I am so glad I took pictures as I know they will be important in the future.

Boom, bang, crush, pow, wham, zam, ouch!@!  Things are starting to look different. It doesn't take long to come down! Actually, the logs from the original frame were the longest standing and hardest to break. Those early pioneers did a great job! Wow, that was only the last generation. Not that far removed from us!  Wow, this looks like quite the mess...and it was!

It was an emotional day and with every piece of board that came down, my heart was pounding. As I said before, in the end, it will look lovely and the memories will still be there and they will continue to talk about the good ol' days!  On the positive side, the trailer parked behind the house is now visible and certainly visibility from it to the road has improved 100%. Trees will be planted, the garden will go in and before you know it, we will even forget what it USED to look like.

There are good sight lines now!

Enjoy the moments

We had quite the spring snowstorm yesterday. Of course, it is all a result of the fact that I washed my car. You would never know that today. The moisture is definitely needed so I will not complain. Having said that, snowstorms are not good for everyone. Yesterday morning, as we were all complaining and talking about the snow, a father and his two young children were killed in a whiteout in Winterburn and hit by the Via train. Three lives instantly taken and the lives of their loved ones completely changed forever. You never know when the last day is upon you.

We had another good turnout for our Life Team meeting last night, despite the weather. One couple was just returning from Jasper and drove (more or less) directly to our place last night. They did not experience any snow until Stony Plain and were amazed at how much snow was in the City! Weather can be so concentrated at times, eh!  At the end of the evening, one of the ladies was showing her hobby. It was making and selling greeting cards. Interesting, pretty and creative. We 'gobbled them up' and she made quite a little 'nest egg' from our purchases!  Just in time for mothers day, birthdays, thank-yous, thinking of you, etc. etc. etc.

We are headed off to Bonnyville tomorrow at lunch and the weather is supposed to improve day by day. There is no snow there, as it was Edmonton south and east that got it this time. Lots of moisture here for the ground.

I leave you with a blessing: Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Does that not fill you with joy? It sounds so hopeful and beneficial. How can you now NOT have a great day?!

Give up Everything??

Great service this morning. Our Young Adults Pastor Phil was speaking. Very demonstrative, in the sense that he had five flip charts on the platform and then asked for audience participation to write information on each chart based on the names he wrote on each of them. He noted the following individuals, Donald Trump, ??, Bono, Julia Roberts and a blank one. Audience called out things about each of them. Donald was $$, Hair, Pompous, Arrogant, You're Fired; ??? was Ipod, millionaire, something else (I did not know this guy), Julia was hair, lips, smile, teeth, actress; and the last flipchart was blank.  He was talking about the difficult sayings of Jesus. (Mark 10:17-26) 'You have to give up everything'. (vs 21-22). The rich young ruler who asked what he needed to do to inherit eternal life.

On first glance it would seem that Jesus answered the opposite of what we would expect. Instead of making comments about faith and grace, Jesus tells him he needs to do 'one more thing'. It was like suggesting the man had not done enough yet. That goes against new testament theology of 'grace not works'. Yet, the young ruler was following the commands of the Old Testament as a believer, but was feeling there was 'something missing' as he asked what MORE could he do? Phil asked us the same questions. Do you sometimes feel there is something MISSING in your walk with Christ?  He explained the world uses material things to define someone's life. How would you define YOURSELF? Many people have difficulty answering the question "Who am I?" What are the markers that define me?  That was exactly what Jesus was trying to get the rich young ruler to ask himself. What would (or should) you give up to find your true identity? What's holding you back?

Anyway, just wanted to share that I now view these verses in a totally different light than I had before. Check out the website and listen for yourselves. http://www.mwpa.com/services/audio-messages.aspx and click on the May 2 mp3 download (once it is loaded in a day or two). Last week's (april 25) is pretty good too.

On another subject, we had a great evening last night at the Gala. I wore my pantsuit and was not out of place. Most women wore a fancy dress but not gowns, just dresses. One other woman wore a dressy pant suit and I was fine the way I was but would have liked to have been in a dress also but it was not a big deal. I spent 'way too much time worrying about this' but isn't that always what happens? The event has now come and gone and I lived through it all without incident!! They had a 'cake walk' and these fancy cakes were auctioned off to raise money to purchase a mini bus for the residents of one of the care campuses. Over $22,000 was raised by the sale of 30 cakes. Mindbloggling! but successful.

Today we had quite a downpour which is so needed and now the sun is shining again. Definitely spring weather is at hand. Next week is Mother's Day and we hope to drive to Bonnyville and spend a few days with mom. The following week we are off to Phoenix. Life is full but almost too busy. Time once again to slow down and reasses life.

1 Peter 4:15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

Happy May Day!

We had an overnight visit with John's sister, Nida, last night. She had been up visiting her mother for a week and has already taken off this morning back to the island. Short and sweet. We have stayed at their place as well but usually spend 2-3 days with them at least. I realize she was on a short schedule and we were busy as well so it was good to at least get together. She had planned on driving straight to the airport this morning rather than overnighting so we are glad she opted to have a quick visit with us.

I had a visit yesterday with my friend, Isla. I had phoned her and asked if she wanted to run around town with me doing errands just to get out of her place but she said no. She was in bed (at 10 am) and wanted to do just that. I said I would drop by later on. She agreed. So, I picked her up after lunch, not before we had watched some entertainment there by a local singer (birthday celebration) and I brought her home and we went for a long walk and then settled on our deck with a cup of coffee. I suggested we play some crib which we had not done in years. We both laughed until we almost wet ourselves as neither of us could really remember how to play and 'counting' was another story!! It was quite the scene. We actually played one hand without a face card turned over for a count. Don't ask me how! We just didn't need it I guess! It was good to see her laughing. I know she has Alzheimer's but sometimes it doesn't seem like it at all! I think counting might be a good thing for her to do and if we do it enough perhaps it will help her a bit. I know the disease is progressive but it can't hurt having her add numbers.  This time, I got her back in time for supper.

We are getting ready for our big Gala this evening. I was able to get my dress slacks hemmed and so I will be wearing my new navy suit with fancy white blouse and my reliable shoes. Hopefully, I can pull off 'gala'!
John is working a funeral today so it will be a full day for him (again)!

The sun is shining, and the weather should be about 13 above so that is a nice day for May 1st. This month is going to be very busy so I need to sit back and take a deep breath. Today's calendar reads "You are as welcome as flowers in May." William Shakespeare. I dedicate this to anyone who reads my blog (if anyone does). Have a wonderful day!