Ok, I got to the dining room windows, bathroom and second bedroom. Window washing basically took the full day - well until 4 pm anyway. I still have the master bedroom to do. I thought I would do that in the morning so I could do the drapes at the same time. Another full day project. There is something to be said about a 'complete' day of work. Very satisfying.
Well, the morning came and went and I did not get to the bedroom windows or drapes. I started working on downloading some photos for London Drugs to develop and had to open an account and then download the photos. I usually go to Walmart. I thought I would give it a try at a new place. Well, that took about one hour and then it didn't work right. I can't even remember now what went wrong with it but I quit and went back to Walmart. I don't like their process much better, although this time I actually figured out what I have been doing wrong . I think it will work this time. It is not a 'wham, bam kind of thing'. You do have to spend some time cropping each photo unless you want them to do it for you which is an automatic thing and not the human eye. Ok, anyway, got it done and now I am headed out to pick them up. I have a few errands to run at the same time so hopefully they will be ready by the time I get to Walmart and the Saturday crowds. I remember specifically telling myself NOT to do Saturdays anymore. Once you are used to the relaxed atmosphere of weekday morning shopping, you will never go back. Ooops, except for today! I need to pick up the photos for a gift for a friend. I am hoping people are home enjoying the weather instead of shopping. hahaha
I also am returning a black hoodie that I picked up for our youngest grandson. He wanted black. Well, this was basically black and then turned grey with some waves at the bottom. A really need hoodie but he wouldn't even try it on - he said "gramma, I can tell it is too big". Besides that it was not totally black. Kids...go figure!! Anyway, I am now on a search for a black hoodie for the little guy. Not an easy task in the middle of summer. This might become a fall gift!
Enjoy your day...my little perpetual calendar states "Friends are life's little "pick-me-uppers" so we are going to be 'picked up' tonite by some friends we have not been able to be with for awhile. Hope we will accomplish this for each other!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Coffee Break
So far, so good. I have finished washing the kitchen and back door windows. It is a lot more work than what was just said. For short ME, it means I need a stool to take out all the windows which are of course over the kitchen sink. These are not small windows either. They are BIG. So that took me an hour and a half. To take out... wash... wipe... and then ... put them all back in again (in order). How many times have I tried to put them back in backwards. Too many to mention. The back door is another story. We have the bar across it for easy exits - just push and it opens. However, that bar is right across where I need to get my little fingers to clip it out of its pocket. Yes, I end up always with cuts and gouges to my fingers. It's such fun being a housekeeper! Next come the dining room windows. At least there is not a kitchen counter obstacle in front of me. These are just tall and narrow windows. Still heavy. The bedroom ones with the bunkbeds half covering them are the challenge for the day! I might not get to them just yet.
It is very nice though to sit at my kitchen counter and look out the window ... the CLEAN window. Almost seems like there is NO window in there now. Just how long they will stay that clean is another story. As nice as it seems out there, and having a covering over our deck, the wind still blows up the dust (from who knows where) and gently lays it on my windows. Oh well, not to worry about that right now. I will just enjoy the clear view while I have it! One last sip of my morning coffee and back to work.
It is very nice though to sit at my kitchen counter and look out the window ... the CLEAN window. Almost seems like there is NO window in there now. Just how long they will stay that clean is another story. As nice as it seems out there, and having a covering over our deck, the wind still blows up the dust (from who knows where) and gently lays it on my windows. Oh well, not to worry about that right now. I will just enjoy the clear view while I have it! One last sip of my morning coffee and back to work.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
What was I thinking?
After finishing supper last night, I was casually sitting and enjoying the news on tv (well, not actually enjoying the news as it was about the tornado down East) but sitting and enjoying being able to relax and watch the news for a change. As the dinner dishes were beckoning me to 'wash me, wash me' I casually turned on my computer to see if I could multi-task and accomplish all three at the same time.
As my computer took time to download, I put dishes in the sink and kept my ear tuned to the next show on tv which was Law & Order, Special Victims Unit - one of my favs. Anyway, as I was doing all three, my Outlook Calendar popped up to remind me of a meeting at 7 pm. TONITE!
It was now 7:05.
My heart stopped. It is amazing how much can go through your head in a short space of time. I remembered this happening before. De ja vous! Actually 2X for the same meeting. The first time was in January of this year. I was hosting the meeting and I was NOT THERE. The others were! They went into the church, found a room and carried on without me. I did not realize it until a few days later when I received the Minutes from that meeting by one of the attendees! Yikes! I was so embarrassed! No problem, they said. They just carried on. No big deal! (except to me!) The next meeting was setup and we all agreed on a date - including me. However, I did not think about it clearly or I would have realized that I was going to be in Phoenix that week. Ooops. Last minute change!
On the day of the meeting, I was on the computer in Phoenix and checked my calendar for updates and sure enough... I was doing it again! At least I had a day to make the change. I suggested they could go ahead without me or wait until I got back in a week's time. They agreed to wait! Of course, you know where I am going with this. Yes, you are right!
Last night, my computer calendar reminder popped up to do just that. Remind me of the meeting I was missing. Why is it that when you need a phone number or address, you can never find it? I am so good at the details and yet this detail was not visible to me. It was like a hand covering my eyes. Every page I read in my Minutes did not display a phone number or address.
So, I head to the phone book. Did you know that the white pages are now divided into businesses at the front and the residential pages are all together? I didn't. When did they start doing that? Anyway, I looked and looked and could not find the business address nowhere, nohow! Of course, I was under pressure too. Finally, I switched to the Yellow Pages, under Churches and found what I needed. That process took precious minutes. Tick, tick, tick. I found the home of one of the leaders hoping to have her husband answer and hoping to hear that she had a cell phone so he could give me the number so I could phone her to tell her I was on my way! No such luck! Answering machine came on. I left a frantic message and hung up! Ok, I thought. I can still do this. It is not that far away. Perhaps they will think I was thinking it was at 7:30 and not 7 pm so they will wait.
YES! I grabbed my books and hollered at my husband that I was late for a meeting and would see him at 9 pm!!! "What?" he hollers back. "Where are you going?" I was gone. I do admit to speeding - thankfully, no ticket. I was careful but I was speeding! It took me 15 minutes to get there and I parked at the west end of the building assuming we would meet where we met before. No, that was not to be. I had to go all the way around to the south east door. One good thing was I saw one of the leader's car in the parking lot. YES!! She is still there. Oh no. The doors are locked. Now what? Of course, just bang on them. Harder! How about on the glass? Yes! I see a face. She answers the door and unlocks it for me. Sorry about that, she said. Guess I forgot to unlock it. I had made it. It was 7:35 and they had just started. They had done their 'preliminaries' of hello and how have you been, etc. That took awhile and they assumed I might have gotten the time wrong so were not in a hurry.
We carried on with the meeting and set up our next one. This time, I am hosting again. This time, I plan to be there. I am marking it down on all the calendars and adding a 'day before' reminder to my computer calendar. Of course, I thought I had done that the last time but perhaps sharing this embarrassing news will make me more cognizant of my lapse in memory and will help me to remember.
There is no moral to this story. My fellow meeting members were gracious in saying I was a busy lady and not to worry about it. Personally, I think I have allowed too many 'little' things into my life that have sidetracked me. But, that is what retirement does to you. A little bit here, another thing there and before you know it...the day is gone. Time gets away on you. I have always been a 'structure' kind of person and with retirement I felt like I wanted to just 'relax' and 'go with the flow'. Well, seems like the flow is more like a river and I definitely was 'up the creek without a paddle' so I'm headed back to the 'organized' way of life. I will be sticking to my hand-written day-to-day calendar/daytimer and hope this will eliminate any of these kinds of problems in the future.
I realize that I will have to actually 'write it down' now but I think I can handle that. Oh yes, thanks to my husband who 'in my absence' was doing the dishes and kitchen cleanup when I returned home at 9 pm. "All I do is work" was his comment to me. I know he was joking but that's another story for another time.
As my computer took time to download, I put dishes in the sink and kept my ear tuned to the next show on tv which was Law & Order, Special Victims Unit - one of my favs. Anyway, as I was doing all three, my Outlook Calendar popped up to remind me of a meeting at 7 pm. TONITE!
It was now 7:05.
My heart stopped. It is amazing how much can go through your head in a short space of time. I remembered this happening before. De ja vous! Actually 2X for the same meeting. The first time was in January of this year. I was hosting the meeting and I was NOT THERE. The others were! They went into the church, found a room and carried on without me. I did not realize it until a few days later when I received the Minutes from that meeting by one of the attendees! Yikes! I was so embarrassed! No problem, they said. They just carried on. No big deal! (except to me!) The next meeting was setup and we all agreed on a date - including me. However, I did not think about it clearly or I would have realized that I was going to be in Phoenix that week. Ooops. Last minute change!
On the day of the meeting, I was on the computer in Phoenix and checked my calendar for updates and sure enough... I was doing it again! At least I had a day to make the change. I suggested they could go ahead without me or wait until I got back in a week's time. They agreed to wait! Of course, you know where I am going with this. Yes, you are right!
Last night, my computer calendar reminder popped up to do just that. Remind me of the meeting I was missing. Why is it that when you need a phone number or address, you can never find it? I am so good at the details and yet this detail was not visible to me. It was like a hand covering my eyes. Every page I read in my Minutes did not display a phone number or address.
So, I head to the phone book. Did you know that the white pages are now divided into businesses at the front and the residential pages are all together? I didn't. When did they start doing that? Anyway, I looked and looked and could not find the business address nowhere, nohow! Of course, I was under pressure too. Finally, I switched to the Yellow Pages, under Churches and found what I needed. That process took precious minutes. Tick, tick, tick. I found the home of one of the leaders hoping to have her husband answer and hoping to hear that she had a cell phone so he could give me the number so I could phone her to tell her I was on my way! No such luck! Answering machine came on. I left a frantic message and hung up! Ok, I thought. I can still do this. It is not that far away. Perhaps they will think I was thinking it was at 7:30 and not 7 pm so they will wait.
YES! I grabbed my books and hollered at my husband that I was late for a meeting and would see him at 9 pm!!! "What?" he hollers back. "Where are you going?" I was gone. I do admit to speeding - thankfully, no ticket. I was careful but I was speeding! It took me 15 minutes to get there and I parked at the west end of the building assuming we would meet where we met before. No, that was not to be. I had to go all the way around to the south east door. One good thing was I saw one of the leader's car in the parking lot. YES!! She is still there. Oh no. The doors are locked. Now what? Of course, just bang on them. Harder! How about on the glass? Yes! I see a face. She answers the door and unlocks it for me. Sorry about that, she said. Guess I forgot to unlock it. I had made it. It was 7:35 and they had just started. They had done their 'preliminaries' of hello and how have you been, etc. That took awhile and they assumed I might have gotten the time wrong so were not in a hurry.
We carried on with the meeting and set up our next one. This time, I am hosting again. This time, I plan to be there. I am marking it down on all the calendars and adding a 'day before' reminder to my computer calendar. Of course, I thought I had done that the last time but perhaps sharing this embarrassing news will make me more cognizant of my lapse in memory and will help me to remember.
There is no moral to this story. My fellow meeting members were gracious in saying I was a busy lady and not to worry about it. Personally, I think I have allowed too many 'little' things into my life that have sidetracked me. But, that is what retirement does to you. A little bit here, another thing there and before you know it...the day is gone. Time gets away on you. I have always been a 'structure' kind of person and with retirement I felt like I wanted to just 'relax' and 'go with the flow'. Well, seems like the flow is more like a river and I definitely was 'up the creek without a paddle' so I'm headed back to the 'organized' way of life. I will be sticking to my hand-written day-to-day calendar/daytimer and hope this will eliminate any of these kinds of problems in the future.
I realize that I will have to actually 'write it down' now but I think I can handle that. Oh yes, thanks to my husband who 'in my absence' was doing the dishes and kitchen cleanup when I returned home at 9 pm. "All I do is work" was his comment to me. I know he was joking but that's another story for another time.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Can't Think
Well, that was interesting! It was an experience trying to make my playlist and get it on my blog but I find it too distracting. I heard someone else say the same thing. But... I had to do it just to see for myself. I enjoyed it on someone else's blog but somehow it was different. I will just enjoy my playlist on my own. Hope that goes well with everyone. Then again, it is MY blog, so ...
Finally got my exercise ball out of the box and blown up. It says to fill it 80% and then let it sit overnite. Fill it 100% and then wait another nite. By Sat I should be able to exercise. I was at the chiro today and had a half hour massage (nice) and my Dr. said it would be good for me to work out on a ball so I do take instruction well (from a professional)! Sorry hon.
I think if we all did a little more bending and stretching (perhaps gardening?) and maybe even a little more walking (oh my sore feet) I could lose some of this belly fat! Yuk! It is not as easy as I thought. I wish I had taken myself more serious when I was in my 30's but somehow the years go by too fast! When you are 30 you don't have to exercise - well I didn't - but no work (out) and you gain weight. It is as simple as that. I get it, I get it (now)!!
Ok, today is the day I start drinking more water (to fill me up). They say it also helps with digestion, your skin, circulation... why didn't I do THIS before? Oh yeah, same reason. Who had time or even needed to?
The more you drink, the more you pee (for awhile). Eventually, my system will get in sync with all this liquid. The thing about drinking more water is I now get thirsty. Guess I need it though.
So that is my newest 'thing'. Hope it can last till at least the end of the week anyway.
Finally got my exercise ball out of the box and blown up. It says to fill it 80% and then let it sit overnite. Fill it 100% and then wait another nite. By Sat I should be able to exercise. I was at the chiro today and had a half hour massage (nice) and my Dr. said it would be good for me to work out on a ball so I do take instruction well (from a professional)! Sorry hon.
I think if we all did a little more bending and stretching (perhaps gardening?) and maybe even a little more walking (oh my sore feet) I could lose some of this belly fat! Yuk! It is not as easy as I thought. I wish I had taken myself more serious when I was in my 30's but somehow the years go by too fast! When you are 30 you don't have to exercise - well I didn't - but no work (out) and you gain weight. It is as simple as that. I get it, I get it (now)!!
Ok, today is the day I start drinking more water (to fill me up). They say it also helps with digestion, your skin, circulation... why didn't I do THIS before? Oh yeah, same reason. Who had time or even needed to?
The more you drink, the more you pee (for awhile). Eventually, my system will get in sync with all this liquid. The thing about drinking more water is I now get thirsty. Guess I need it though.
So that is my newest 'thing'. Hope it can last till at least the end of the week anyway.
Jiggity Jig
Home again, home again...
Well, the time with the grandkids went fast. It is so nice to be able to be 'part of' their life physically. You get to live their life with them for a short while. In some ways that is better than living in the same city and just visiting occasionally for supper or for afternoon coffee. If you know what I mean! Nothing is the same as being 'immersed' in their life. We were able to walk them to school and talk and walk them home from school too. Those 1//2 hr walks are pretty special. One on one time with the new baby is pretty special too. She likes her mom but will put up with me for short periods. By the time she left she was feeling more comfortable looking up at gramma!
Next trip is camping with them at Radium. That will be totally different as they will be overniting with us. Should be interesting. We will need to plan on hikes, campfires and just general good play! We definitely will want to 'make memories' for them (and us too)!
It is hard to get back into it this morning. Feeling pretty lazy. I have a chiro appt and a massage so hopefully my hip and MY shoulder will feel better later on. Likely I will be hurting more after she is finished with me. Ugh. Need to get this body back into shape but I think I have been saying that for awhile now. More action is required!
Ok, overcast with a light breeze but still very comfortable. Happy to be home. Back to routine.
Well, the time with the grandkids went fast. It is so nice to be able to be 'part of' their life physically. You get to live their life with them for a short while. In some ways that is better than living in the same city and just visiting occasionally for supper or for afternoon coffee. If you know what I mean! Nothing is the same as being 'immersed' in their life. We were able to walk them to school and talk and walk them home from school too. Those 1//2 hr walks are pretty special. One on one time with the new baby is pretty special too. She likes her mom but will put up with me for short periods. By the time she left she was feeling more comfortable looking up at gramma!
Next trip is camping with them at Radium. That will be totally different as they will be overniting with us. Should be interesting. We will need to plan on hikes, campfires and just general good play! We definitely will want to 'make memories' for them (and us too)!
It is hard to get back into it this morning. Feeling pretty lazy. I have a chiro appt and a massage so hopefully my hip and MY shoulder will feel better later on. Likely I will be hurting more after she is finished with me. Ugh. Need to get this body back into shape but I think I have been saying that for awhile now. More action is required!
Ok, overcast with a light breeze but still very comfortable. Happy to be home. Back to routine.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
FINALLY!
Thanks to my brother and my son-in-law, I have been able to add music to my blog. Now I am not sure if this is going to be better or worse. When I first saw it on another person's blog, I thought it was a great idea. However, after spending a l-o-n-g time on mine trying to get it to work...I finally had to turn the sound off as it was driving me bananas. So....I will leave it on for awhile but if I get tired of listening to it, maybe you will too. I will decide in a few more blogs whether to keep it or not.
We have made it to Vancouver and the weather here is a bit cooler but still sunny and not raining as they predicted. We missed our grandkids' school performance but got to see it a number of times as they sang us one or two songs. We also got to see it on the video that they took.
Went to our granddaughter's piano recital. She is doing really well. We also had a conflicting engagement of our grandson's ball hockey final. He lost. He is looking forward to Fall when he can start 'real' hockey - on ice! Went out for supper to Swiss Chalet as a treat. The boys went for pizza for the hockey team.
Tomorrow is Father's Day and we are going to Toy Story 3 - something for all of us - in other words, the kids want to go see it! We watched Toy Story 2 last night just to refresh our memory!
Enjoying our grandkids and new granddaughter. She definitely recognizes her mom. I can help when she is in a good mood but if she is crying, my picking her up somehow makes her cry all the more! Go figure. I think she just is not accustomed to me yet. Maybe I should stay here longer. haha
We are headed to Toy Story3 this afternoon for Father's Day. I am not sure that is the 'pick of the week' for my husband but he will do what the family wants - especially since they are paying today!
Happy Father's Day everyone!
We have made it to Vancouver and the weather here is a bit cooler but still sunny and not raining as they predicted. We missed our grandkids' school performance but got to see it a number of times as they sang us one or two songs. We also got to see it on the video that they took.
Went to our granddaughter's piano recital. She is doing really well. We also had a conflicting engagement of our grandson's ball hockey final. He lost. He is looking forward to Fall when he can start 'real' hockey - on ice! Went out for supper to Swiss Chalet as a treat. The boys went for pizza for the hockey team.
Tomorrow is Father's Day and we are going to Toy Story 3 - something for all of us - in other words, the kids want to go see it! We watched Toy Story 2 last night just to refresh our memory!
Enjoying our grandkids and new granddaughter. She definitely recognizes her mom. I can help when she is in a good mood but if she is crying, my picking her up somehow makes her cry all the more! Go figure. I think she just is not accustomed to me yet. Maybe I should stay here longer. haha
We are headed to Toy Story3 this afternoon for Father's Day. I am not sure that is the 'pick of the week' for my husband but he will do what the family wants - especially since they are paying today!
Happy Father's Day everyone!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Heavy Discussion
Ok, so I was at my Stephen Ministry group tonite and we were talking about the book that the founder of the ministry wrote called 'Don't Sing Songs to a Heavy Heart". We were discussing the common sayings among Christians that really are not found in the bible like, 'God doesn't give you more than you can handle". Actually although people quote it as a biblical truth, the Bible does not state it. It is loosely based on 1 Corinthians 10:13. No temptation has seized you except what is commmon to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. This passage actually refers to resisting temptation, not at all about bearing up under pain and suffering. The context of this verse clearly points to temptation, not suffering.
On discussion, we felt that most Christians are simply trying to offer up encouragement and hope that maybe it won't get worse, or whatever happens, God is with you and will help you. However, a person who is hurting might feel the burden even worse in that they aren't doing a good job at 'overcoming' or 'dealing with their burden' and end up feeling worse.
Another part of "God doesn't give you..." Why add to the burden of a hurting person by saying that God is causing the suffering? Come on people!
Basically, when bad things happen, people don't need platitudes and cliches; they need to be able to lean on each other and support one another. Hopefully, that is what this ministry is all about. I continue to learn things from our meetings and surprisingly, from the people who we are giving care to. What goes around, comes around. I like that saying and I think it works out to be true.
On discussion, we felt that most Christians are simply trying to offer up encouragement and hope that maybe it won't get worse, or whatever happens, God is with you and will help you. However, a person who is hurting might feel the burden even worse in that they aren't doing a good job at 'overcoming' or 'dealing with their burden' and end up feeling worse.
Another part of "God doesn't give you..." Why add to the burden of a hurting person by saying that God is causing the suffering? Come on people!
Basically, when bad things happen, people don't need platitudes and cliches; they need to be able to lean on each other and support one another. Hopefully, that is what this ministry is all about. I continue to learn things from our meetings and surprisingly, from the people who we are giving care to. What goes around, comes around. I like that saying and I think it works out to be true.
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