Today is the national day for truth and reconciliation. It is recognized federally but not provincially. I let myself sleep in and then headed to the office to do some payroll, training and all my usual billing for this month and scheduling for next. I was pretty productive and left to be home around 4. Had a short visit with Tracey and then mowed my lawn before coming in to make dinner for the two of us. It was nice having company while I cooked and then we enjoyed the food while watching Pinocchio. It was well done and we both enjoyed the movie and the dinner. I wasn’t very chatty as this was a tough month in many ways. I am already dreading tomorrow. I have had no communication from Greg as to whether he is driving the truck back or flying, when he is leaving, etc. I also am completely relying on the Mormon missionaries showing up at 12:15 as promised tomorrow for the move. I must let my stress go about tomorrow, release the pain I feel for our First Nations, and calm myself to sleep.
I managed to get all deadlines met a day early and a jump on a big file. At 3 pm I met Stacey at Kootenay Winecrafters and we bottled my two batches of wine. This space is clean and beautiful and we got them done in no time at all. Elva gifted me with a mug, bottle stopper and other treasures when I left. What a nice perk! I went back to the office until it was time to head to Cranbrook History Centre for the Ticket to Ride game night. Not too many showed up but we were a friendly group and I kicked butt the first game against Monika and Marg. Travis joined us for the second game and I came in a close second. Overall I had the highest score and won an expansion pack which is awesome! Gordon did a good job although I suspect if he sent a reminder email more people would have showed up. I hope we have more of these nights. It was the first time in a very long time that I scheduled some pure fun for myself. I am up as long as I like tonight as I plan no alarm and then will go in to take care of payroll and anything else that pops up but mostly will rest for the big move in on Saturday. It will be good to know Mom’s stress is over and she is settled here. Also good she will be here for Ryon’s memorial. The plans are being made.
Today felt… complicated. I went to work. I got the text, I felt the feels. Ryon Guedes was my son-in-laws father. He was also my friend. His mind gave out… he was a prestigious editor at the Province Newspaper, a brilliant mind. I was honoured to know him, now he is gone. On the day of his daughter, Margot’s 42 year, he exited this life with her and Roger and his wife, Judy, by his side. To hear tell, it was peaceful and lovely. It is too soon for these remaining two of three of his children to experience this loss. I was 41 when I lost my dad, I feel their pain but I also know that they lost their dad years ago to dementia and Alzheimer’s
I was so veklempt that I barely noticed it was lunch time so I raced home and made one of my Hello Fresh meals and brought it to share with Cindy. I then buckled down on two files so I would concentrate and not have to experience the grief and care I have for Roger and Margot. I came home for a small respite and then headed to Key City.
Piq Siq (Pilk silk) were the main attraction and a First Nations art exhibit. I was surveying the lobby when I saw a couple that I should know but not from here. When they came to my bar I said I recognized them, were they musicians, and as it happened they were Court and Ali the bird and bear from Amazing Race Canada! I admit to being fan girl but remained calm and cool. As i had been on a reality show before, we had a great conversation about Producers, and editing. They were happy to take a selfie with me and I was thrilled to be there in spite of my grief.
I left after being overwhelmed with goosebumps listening to Piq Siq. I bought their CD and a mask. I hope to have opportunity to see them agin.
Next stop was to pick up Scotch and head to see Roger and Margot. They were just heading down to the Firehall as I pulled up so I parked and walked down with them. After a nice visit, we walked back up to the house, cracked the scotch (delicious) and Roger, Margot and I played RummyCube. When their brother died, we all gathered around my friend Jackie’s table and played games. It seems to be our go to.
I feel sorry for them, remembering how it felt to be only 41 when my Dad died. It is a time for transition, when kids and parents need each other and communicate differently. They have lost that opportunity but are surrounded by love so that is a bonus.
It was funny tonight when a photographer in the venue leaned over the counter to say hi. there was awkward conversation until I said, Oh, you think I am Ashlée! He was stunned to find out I was her Mom. It truly doesn’t have much to do with our age but rather the focal points people recognize in us. I find it interesting, but to be fair I am being mistaken for my 35 year old daughter, not such a bad thing.
I really disliked my alarm this morning. I struggled to get to sleep as I feel that I need a couple hours to unwind before going to bed and didn’t have the time. The same thing is going on tonight as I had a board meeting and although it went well, there is a lot going through my head.
Once into the office I knuckled down and did manage to get a lot done but I do feel I may have overcommitted recently and may need to work longer, later to accomplish it all.
I just received word that the family is sitting with Ryon, my son-in-law’s father and my friend. The prayer is for peace and freedom from pain. His two remaining children and wife are with him. It is a sad and trying time for the kids, so hard to lose a parent when still so young.
It is 10:21 pm and I am finally home. So much happened today! In no particular order: Found out Roger’s Dad, Ryon will not be with us long and the family should come, so his sister is on the way from the States. Ashlée had to go to the hospital with serious breathing issues after having no voice for the last couple days and tested positive for Covid-19. I had been around Rae-Anne the last couple days and Ash lives in her home, so I raced home and took a test and then went to Arby’s and aided a couple people to test. So far, no more positives so that is a relief. They are already struggling for help and should more have been positive, they may have had to close temporarily. It was Cindy’s birthday today so I went to Hot Shots and got her a special coffee, got my last passport stamp and stopped at the Cranbrook Visitors centre to pick up my enamel mug. I love it! Dealt with a ton of things at the office before heading to the dentist for my cleaning. He also topically froze the end of my tongue and removed the odd growth. He said it was similar to a skin tag and snipped it off. It feels so good to have it gone since it appeared the first week of August. Another couple hours of work and I was off to a client to work on his prior year file for him so he can get caught up. He nicely provided pizza and I stayed to nearly 10 with promises to return as soon as possible. One of the highlights of the day was getting a call from HealthLink letting me know that I was on their list for openings for a family Dr. She let me know how to get Mom on the list as well. The other highlight was watching the NASA Dart as it neared and hit an asteroid. It was the test mission for protecting earth should it be necessary in the future. Once all he info is in we will hear if it moved it at all. The big excitement at the office space today was the arrival of the big Laser something or other. I was too busy to find out exactly what it is but it was certainly making the boys happy.
I guess I needed to catch up on sleep as my alarm was my hungry cat after 12 hours and 39 minutes in bed! It is so awkward to awake at 1 in the afternoon, so much of a gorgeous day was already done. I had a bath, got the place tidied up, started washing wine bottles as I will be bottling later this week and began the dismantling of the pool. Rae-Anne dropped off her two home stay students, Jonas and Eugene. They were incredible at getting it drained and cleaned. I am so grateful. When I dropped them off after, I stayed and had spaghetti with them although it had peppers in it. I was hungry and regretted it, lol. I did have time to go do 9 holes at the Idlewild disc golf course with Rae, Will and Sawyer before the very ill effects kicked in. It was a lovely evening at the perfect temperature on the course. Once I got home, I finished washing the bottles and my clothes and settled to watch the season finale of Big Brother. I am not especially tired but need to hit the hay.
I had a solid 8 hours sleep and felt rested and ready to get my chores done. I started the pool to draining although the buyer backed out. I decided to put it on Cranbrook Bid Wars and by noon tomorrow I should have sold it. Next thing, I got a message from Rae-Anne asking if I would like to join her and the two youngest boys heading to Kimberley. I took my bottles to drop off at Beautiful Moments where they were collecting to fund a gymnastics trip, dropped my recycle in the bin behind work, stopped at Canadian Tire for latches for the two gates and dropped all my old batteries at Staples for recycling. I met her and the boys at Arby’s where she had to assist staff and Will and Sawyer were eagerly awaiting me. We all jumped in Rae’s vehicle and headed off around 1:45. Parking was hard to come by and we found out that it was Oktoberfest in the Platzl. Odd as it is still September! We puttered in and out of stores, bought a cider and wandered. It was relaxing and fun. I was super impressed with the new restaurant, The Biscuit. We didn’t eat there but we did get our passports stamped for the Ale Trail promotion going on. I have to collect 6 stamps and trade in the passport to get a really cool enamel mug. I have 4 stamps just from today. We would have got more but the OverTime was too busy. We had a good stop at Grist & Mash Brewery for a flight and a pretzel. We stopped at the skate park and let Will and Sawyer ride around on their bikes. That park is so nice, no graffiti at all. Nice to see for sure. We stopped at the park in Cranbrook as well and ran in to Jonas, their student and one of her employees who called in sick. Oops, she busted him. We dropped the kids at home and just she and I went to the Blind Pig. We had a great visit and some good food and beverages. I felt really bad as I called my favourite server by the wrong name but it will never happen again. I got all twisted up over another conversation and pulled the wrong one out of my hat. We went for a walk around downtown for a bit before I dropped her off and came home. It was such a good day!
Worms under the pool filterCouldn’t decide so bought bothWilliamRae, Sawyer and WillPainted FluevogsThe BiscuitEarth’s Own NaturalsGrist and MashA fellow actor, David BoothDistillery stopNew shoes!
Today I was up and on the treadmill and off to work at a decent time. I feel like everything is just fluid right now, as if I am just moving through the days. I think I am trying not to stress for Mom. My super power friend Julie was going to help her tonight and I hope it went well. Rae-Anne let me know that the mormons are in town looking to give assistance where needed and that I should reach out to get their help moving her in on the first. I have to reach out to my brother tomorrow to see when he thinks we will need them. Sadly, the lady who reached out about buying my pool said her husband doesn’t want to store it for the winter so I will drain and clean it this weekend and ask more for it come spring. I stopped to pick up Roger’s wine bottle drying rack so I can get mine cleaned this weekend, ready to bottle on Thursday. Stacey is going to come and bottle with me. After work I came home and had a good catch up with Tracey who has been laid up with a bad back. Then, it was time to head to Key City Theatre where I was to bar tend again. It was the Jesse Cook tour and sounded good on the lobby speakers. After cleaning up following the intermission I decided to come home rather than stay and watch. It has been a long couple weeks. No alarm tomorrow, hallelujah.
It was rainy and grey today. That seems appropriate for the first day of Fall. I got into the office at a decent time after chatting with my guests. They just keep stressing how happy they are to be staying here, that they are sleeping better and longer than they even do at home. First thing was to call to see if I could get a nail appointment as they were in very bad shape, and was very happy to get in for 11:15. I answered all my email, made a lot of payments for clients and then raced off to the mall. Minh liked my idea to get my Halloween nails and I chose candy corn. Ty finished them off and although my thumb got hurt a few times it was worth it. I love them.
I shopped a little bit, picking up some new tops on sale at Ricki’s and a keyboard cleaner and for only a dollar, an I stand with the Ukraine shirt at the As Seen on TV store. After that it was back to get things done before my stint volunteering at Key City. It was Marsha’s first time volunteering and it was great working the bar with her. She has a great personality for it and is smart.
Once home I made some scallops and edamame. It was the perfect dinner which I followed up with a pot of tea and the first episodes of the new season of both The Amazing Race and Survivor.
I am ever so grateful for the friends and family that are helping Mom get herself up here. I plan to take time off as needed to settle her place at this end before she arrives. Only one more week! Rae let me know there are dollies to use at the facility. That will help to get her unloaded. I had someone inquire about my pool today and I offered a further amount off if they commit to getting it this weekend as I am planning to take it down and don’t want to have to store it. I hope she gets back to me tomorrow.
The day was convoluted, much was accomplished but it all aimed at crossing off list and felt… done
Really it matters not what a stressful day I had as I met Dave and Deb at The Blind Pig and had a most wonderful evening of catching up on our childhood and everything in between. We met in grade one and they moved away during grade three. In those years we bonded in a way that has brought us to 59 and still feeling the love. I want to share more but really, the memories are so precious I feel the need to hold them close. I am sad to hear her mom has a cancer scare that is multiplied by the fact that is how she lost her father. I only hope if it is fatal that it is quick and painless. It is amazing to be friends with someone you have known since you were 6!
My last guest made a lovely video of the space that I just have to share.
I made up the tent and headed into the office to meet a client and was grateful that she took two big boxes of info back to store. My office was getting crowded. Next I was trying to tackle getting my government access back to a file that I need to file returns on. There was a mistiming that had my authorization revoked prematurely and it is proving to be a real botch. I admit I got angry and it is taking a lot more time that I need to be doing other things. I will deal with it again tomorrow. It only took two years to get the last access for a Society solved, I will fix it… eventually.
Ron Popoff, one of our city councilors came by my office to talk about the plans for Rotary Park and how it is used for Summer Sounds and Peak Fest. We sketched out an idea and he will come present it at our Board meeting next week so that it can become part of the October budget after the civic election.
I finished a lot more and then got a call from my guests that they were here. It was a bit frustrating as I had reached out yesterday to see when they were arriving but didn’t hear anything. It turns out they are an older couple and absolutely lovely folks. We had a good chat and then they headed off to their family reunion. She is from Nova Scotia and her family is meeting here from various provinces. Brian and Jeannine are absolutely thrilled with their accommodations and will be great guests through to Sunday morning.
My elder friend in Bella Bella called tonight as she had been thinking of me while watching the Queen’s service. They are sadly still searching for a guy who fell overboard on the weekend. His boat was found adrift and then the fall was found to have been caught in the cannery cameras apparently. How very sad.
The one really great part of the day was waking up remembering that Doug let me know we will be having VIMF next year! It will be my 15th and maybe my last. I shall make the most of it. Something to make a plan for now.
I had set my PVR to record the Queen’s funeral but woke up at 2:45 am and it was to start at 3. I turned it on and tucked back in. It was very moving and incredibly impressive. The pomp and circumstance was like nothing I have ever witnessed nor imagined. I was constantly aware of the precision of movement of thousands of military personnel and how perfectly timed it all was. Everyone must be completely exhausted tonight. There were so many touching moments and I was also filled with pride seeing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police holding a spot of honour in the procession. I was choked seeing the Queen’s pony watching her go by. It is all just so much to process and I am glad I was able to take as much time as needed to watch and feel a participant in respecting and honouring her legacy. It is still so odd to consider she is no longer. I wish I could hug my UK friends and family and care for them in this loss. I am sure I will be processing it for some time and I am glad I woke up as the recordings were only a small part of the entire thing and I am grateful to have seen it all.
Eventually I went to the office as I had several payroll to do and had hoped to finish off some other work but ran into obstacles. I took the time to go to Joseph Creek and put Mom’s deposit down, get a new tour, take some questions, fill out all the paperwork and get the keys. She is getting things sorted at her end, even so far as calling a junk remover to come and get her old couch. I am impressed. It seems she has actually embraced the idea.
Once back at the office I got a few years of filing sorted and boxed for a client and planned out my week. It was nice to work in peace and quiet. Fortunately others were working up front as a parcel I had been waiting for arrived.
I made my way home in time to say goodbye to Safwan and stripped the trailer while my dinner was in the oven. He had written a beautiful thank you note in my guest book which is especially nice as this was his first solo travel and I have only one more guest before I am done.
I probably should have gone to bed sooner but am waiting for the laundry to finish. I will make up the bed in the morning and be ready for the couple arriving although they have not reached out to my query about when they are expecting to get here. I’d just better be ready.
In making the rounds to feed George and the Stickbugs, I couldn’t help but notice there has been a baby boom in stickbug land. I am thinking of offering them to teachers to see if anyone wants them for a classroom. In the meantime I added lettuce to my grocery list to keep them fed. I need to clean their cage but have to make sure to put everything in a ziplock and add water to ensure there is none left to hatch as they are an invasive species.
I decided to pour a bath and watch shows when I got a message that Safwan made a mistake and needed to stay here tonight, not tomorrow. That actually worked better for me as I have guests coming to stay for a week starting Tuesday and that will give me tomorrow night to change it out.
I discovered I had not watched the final episodes of the Book of Boba Fett and so watched two of them. I was sitting outside watching the third when Safwan arrived. He offered to help me accomplish the things I wanted to outside today. I took him up on it! We moved the big ugly pile behind the trailer, I designed and he assisted in making a new gate which will keep out the deer and stand up to winter. I repurposed the arch way and am pretty darn happy with it, just have to add a little bolt lock to make it stay easily. NO MORE DEER!!! And no more crazy net hanging to keep them out. Safwan was a great help and we had many good laughs that his father would be amazed at what he was doing. He is the same age as Jake and I think similar in nature. It was fun to have a surrogate son for the day. The final thing we did was store my Kayak for the season. We had gone to pick up a few hardware items at Home Hardware and stopped at Superstore for dinner items. I made dinner to thank him and we watched the first 5 episodes available of She Hulk. It’s cute.
I made it to level 3000 of Candy Crash which is funny as there was a time when level 100 was a really big deal.
I have set to record the Queen’s funeral just in case but intend to try to watch as much of it live as possible. I’d best get some sleep!
Mom was up and off to Kimberley to meet with Rosie and drive their cars together to Blind Bay. Rosie’s back is bad and it is good they stick together in case she can’t drive farther. She left things here for when she moves in two weeks. I spent time reaching out for help from family and friends to drop her off boxes and help her pack. Greg booked the Uhaul and will have her up here for the beginning of the month.
Today was ABC zoom day but only Mike and Colleen and I were available. We ended up having a good visit and I hope to be able to pop down and see them in person in the near future. It was fun to talk about the places they have been recently that were near where they took me when I was there in the past. I really enjoyed our visit to Hood River. It is always more awesome to visit places with people who know the area as you get a special perspective. They are both so great at noticing and appreciating all the details around them.
I was done in after the past couple weeks and gave myself the luxury of a day of rest. I look forward to Mom being here and settled and then I will move on to making my plans and getting organized. I must get back to the Maritime plan.
Rae-Anne had a bunch of us over for a beautiful roast dinner eaten out in the yard. It was nice to spend time with Dee and Zach, and all the home stay students as well as the usual family. Only Roger and Deanne were missing, he for work and she for scrapbooking. After dinner many of us headed to the first exhibition hockey game which was against the Trail Smoke Eaters. There was no score in the first and third periods and we got 5 in the second to accomplish a shutout. It was lovely to have sweet Will sit with me. He is really feeling life changing as Lukas hangs out more with the older kids now. It can be tough to be the younger brother. I am sorry that Tracey couldn’t make it as she has pulled her back and is immobile. It was nice of her to give up her ticket to Jonas, one of the Guedes students.
I dropped Will at home and came home to relax again. I am catching up on my shows and chilling as tomorrow I will need to get things done outside. It is time to make a proper gate before winter arrives and store some of my summer things, ensuring it is all still nice for the last two bookings of my AirBnB next week.
Up and at it, not feeling one urge to get on the treadmill. Off to the office, much to do before taking mom for a tour of Kootenay Street Village. I worked getting payroll done under the pressure of may interruptions. We had the tour and were so pleased with Kyle, the manager. He was very thorough and answered all questions although more importantly, he asked the right ones. After dropping Mom off, I booted back to the office to finish more payroll and then came home to discuss all the pros and cons. Mom was open to the process and after calling my brother, and me talking to Landon, the superior at Golden Life, she actually wrote a cheque for the deposit which I will bring in on Monday to secure the suite she likes at Joseph Creek. I honestly think the deal maker for her was when she found out housekeeping was included. Also calling Greg, my brother was the clincher as he agreed to take care of organizing the move at that end. We heard he had it planned for the month end so mom will go home and get packing. I told her not to worry, get up here and we can help her get settled and get rid of anything she doesn’t need. This has been a decade in the making, her transition is a family celebration! We have had rum to celebrate and destress from the last couple days so I am going to leave it here and wish you all a goodnight.
Today, there was a BBQ at the workplace, much payroll to run, files to finish and tours to take. I picked up Mom for a 1 pm tour of Joseph Creek Seniors living. We went to the wrong entrance where Mom had her first Covid test ever! We passed, as she put it, and walked over to the independent living building where Rosie was waiting. We were given a tour of the facility including two available suites, a studio and a one bedroom. The studio was far too small and the other was wonderful as it was on the top floor relatively near the laundry and elevator, but you could hear neither. The menu for dinner was very enticing. I think Mom was very overwhelmed but I also think she is warming to the idea of moving here and she liked that apartment. It is $3250 per month including so many things. She would have to pay her cell and internet and buy groceries for breakfast and lunch only. Everything else is included. I hope she comes to the decision to take it. We have a tour tomorrow of Kootenay Street Village which is new by comparison and has underground parking which impresses her. It also has a waiting list and higher cost but we will go see it for comparison.
After, we stopped at Arby’s to see the girls and Roger also happened to stop in. I carried on back to work. Once I was done what I could handle today, I came home and made us dinner. We then watched the Finale and Results of America’s Got Talent and the performers I loved from the beginning won. Now we are watching a documentary about Queen Elizabeth II for an hour before heading to bed.
It was girl guide cookie day and we enjoyed some for dessert. Mint are my favourite.
Today held so many things that needed dealing with all at the same time. It feels like it went through in a blur to be honest. I am grateful to have gotten so many things with deadlines done.
The day started with Nikki and Sean picking up my brand new BBQ that I sold to the GroundFloor. Apparently ‘if you build it, they will come’ doesn’t work with family. I am not bitter about that, I just need to relieve myself of those things that I don’t use unless with a group. I had someone interested in my pool but her husband changed her mind. She did say I should be able to sell it though as I had it for such a good price, which is encouraging.
The overall goal though was to get a tour of the local Seniors Homes for Mom so that she will move up here. As it happens, when I called Golden Life, the voicemail I got was my friend Landons. He called back at 5 and laid out all the options, skipping the sales pitch and even responded to my text afterwards when I asked where he would put his Mom. We have a plan for tours of the two local spots tomorrow and he will let me know in the morning when. I have had a hard time convincing Mom to even entertain the idea that it would be best to move before she is infirm and has to. I did call my brothers and spoke with his wife to let her know I had made it clear to Mom that their life is not conducive to her living there.
I went to the Key City welcome back to volunteers night and thought it funny that I saw my face on a cake for the first time and even got the piece with it on it! For the evacuation training drill I was assigned as the wheelchair person and to be honest, it was stressful waiting to be last taken out. It definitely gave me a new perspective.
Once I got home I made sure the tent trailer was set and the heater was on to welcome Safwan. When I went out to meet him, he was being dropped off by Dave who I know from working at the GroundFloor Coworking Space. He assured Safwan that he was in good hands. He is here for the JCI conference in Kimberley and will be back to stay next Monday night before heading forme to Toronto.
Tomorrow will prove to be interesting at the least, so sleep I must
I can’t even believe that I found out Mom has never seen E.T.!! Of course as soon as we were both home from the day, we had to watch it. She is really loving it. I have forgotten most of it and am still impressed. It is timeless. So far there was only one little PC incorrect thing, the rest of it is amazing. For something made in 1982, it is timeless.
Tonight was the last night of me being officially on the Board of CCT. I now am trusted to still have keys, be the General Contractor for the final projects in the President’s absence for the next 3 months and will continue to do the books and make payments with signing authority. It really is the best for both worlds.
I sold my brand new BBQ to the GroundFloor and it is being picked up in the morning. First major step in my downsizing, working my way to the UK!
This morning I stopped and picked up my Bucks season tickets. First game is already on Saturday night, can it really be that summer is over?!
Tonight, after the AGM, I took my moment with Bud. RIP dear soul.
I took it easy getting going this morning and even took a client call while I folded my laundry. Once at the office I buckled down and got a great deal done, even taking time to eat my lunch with a couple of the ladies. It was nice to relax and catch up. Once I got home to Mom who had gone to Kimberley to inter Auntie’s ashes and visit her parents graves with her brothers, we made a plan to meet for dinner with my friends. Dave and Deb were in town from the coast for a few weeks, staying in their trailer and enjoying the golf and lakes around here. Deb was my best friend from up the street when we were in Kindergarten until her family moved away after grade 3. We stayed connected for many years but lost touch. Facebook reunited us a decade or so ago but I had never met her husband who she has been with for 39 years! We all met at the Firehall restaurant and had a fabulous visit. They have just joyful personalities and I really loved hearing about their kids. Autumn, who is about to graduate as a nurse and their twin boys Zach and Tate who are world class track stars going to school on full scholarships towards their PHDs in Physics as they keep winning races. They broke 27 year old records in BC, placing first and second. I was happy to hear they are considering places to retire to and love this area. It would be great to have them near.
The rain that was promised never arrived today which is too bad as I hoped it would take down the smoke in the air. It would be nice to see the mountains again.
triumphgal 