triumphgal

January 26, 2024

Well, all I can say is that this day was as long as January feels. I got all my GST filed and my big payroll that I would usually do next week was able to be done today. THAT is a blessing. I am not going to pretend that I was not filled with anxiety and worried that I would forget something. As usual, many last minute things came down the line but I was able to either deal with them or push them off. I have my out of office on my email and I am done. Being a self-employed individual is not for the faint of heart.

I went to visit my friend Gord who continues to hang onto the positivity of believing that he will beat his cancer. This is a good attitude for him, but hard on those around him. I had a nice visit even though there were others there, letting his lovely wife download the horror that is her life right now. I am so glad she is going to go on medical leave and be able to be home, not working, taking the time that is left. Gordon gave me a stack of stickers and asked me to pick the one that spoke to me. That was easy, being that we are both Red Dwarf fans.

I have my things ready and alarms set for 4 am, just need to stop at the bank machine and pull some US cash as I didn’t have my debit card with me. I am grateful that Keri let me know that I could get US cash out of the RBC machine so I shall try it in the morning.

I guess that I am officially on holidays now, although my laptop is packed and ready to go with what I need to next week.

January 25, 2024

This morning I went to the office and got quite a bit done before heading to Rotary to be inducted along with a lovely group of others. It was a nice time and kind words and big handshakes of welcome occurred. After that was a staff meeting for one of my clients which I was asked to attend as the boss is taking a working vacation for a month and wanted everyone to be in the loop. This is of course causing some chaos.

I was barely back at the desk when I saw the post from Vic’s husband that she was gone as of this morning, on day 938 of her fight with ovarian cancer. She did her video on day 925 and I suspect saved it until it was the day before it was too late to communicate and no one could talk her out of her choice. She was brave and loving to the end.

I worked until I got to a point that tomorrow won’t be too overwhelming. Once home, I made dinner and then connected with Zoom to the VIMF coordinators meeting in Courtenay. All the deadlines have moved earlier this year and it has complicated things for me but it was good to see faces and hear voices.

I spent the rest of the evening drinking Jam Jam Sour, eating hedgehogs, watching my Chicago shows and finishing my puzzle. I think I can sleep soon, so off I go. Two more sleeps…

January 24, 2024

I worked my tush off today in order to get to Key City by 4 to host and emcee the Winter Ale series. Shortly before it was time to shut down, I saw a video from my dear friend. This was unusual as she has been posting Metatastic Musings ever since she got her diagnosis, 925 days ago. This was a video to say that she wasn’t going to make it to 1000 as she hoped, that she has requested Medically Assisted Death. I wept watching it. I know it is the absolute right choice. She has teen daughters and a husband who have been on this journey with her and I know that they have made a family decision. Death is more about the ones left behind, I know that, but… Fuck Cancer!

I fell into the arms of my friend, Monica and had a cry and a good hug. She was the one who reminded me to compartmentalize. I headed to the theatre and dropped off stuff but had to leave. I came home and got sick and put on fresh lipstick and my acting armour. I stopped at Encore for a couple good hugs and a lovely conversation with Addison about travel destinations which helped my mind to clear. Once back at the theatre it got interesting as someone else had also been asked to intro. I had no state of mind to reply properly so I just bowed out for the initial part and took over after. We had a good talk and are all good between us. I will be bringing up the issue with the person who asked him when I am less reactive.

I also learned today that my friend Gordon has been sent home for palliative care. I arranged to go see him Friday late afternoon as I am afraid no to see him before I go. I just want to tell him I love him and ask what his favourite character is that I can get a pic with while I am away.

People keep asking me if I am excited to go, but it is hard to be excited right now. I realized I have been stressed when I saw that I posted the last few as 2023, sigh. That’s been fixed. I need to find peace to sleep tonight as I have my Rotary Induction ceremony tomorrow, meetings with a new auditor for one client, and a zoom meeting for VIMF coordinators as well as 4 clients GST still to file by end of day Friday. I have gotten good at answering, ‘can we revisit that in February’ to the email rolling in for assistance.

Sorry if this is depressing. I am trying not to be depressed by sharing it. Putting things down like this, helps.

Oh, and the show tonight was fricken amazing. Like Father, Like Son, Marty and Eli Beingessner from Harrogate, B.C. were fabulous, I even bought Eli’s CD. Ethan and the Elevators are a group of guys who have previously played in many bands (including Bif Naked) and they came together to Rip It Up!!

January 23, 2024

That is all I remind myself of to get through another stress filled day.

My puzzle is nearly done though…. It was exactly what I needed.

Oh, and it has been melting all day. The snow keeps making Missy and I think someone is outside as it falls off the roof.

January 22, 2024

Yep, my day was far too boring for the average bear. I just worked… data entered, phone consulted, reconciled and filed government items. Pretty exciting, huh? I did come home and finish The Bear. I can’t wait for Season 3.

Now I am starting Echo. The beginning is beautiful and a couple of my favourites are in it so far. Nice to see indigenous actors, and those without hearing, great representation for all the peoples.

I have to pay attention now, maybe there will be more interesting things to tal about tomorrow.

January 21, 2024

I slept well. I puttered at chores. I popped out for cat food. I packed for California. I binged The Bear.

I see why the show won all the Emmys. It is very brilliantly written and acted.

It was a very pleasant day.

January 20, 2024

I puzzled and rested while watching my recording of the Emmy Awards. It was quite shocking how many big names died last year. I suppose that will be common now. I am of an age where all the TV personalities of my era are dropping off given they were likely all 20 years or so older than I. I saw Ashlée when she dropped off some posters that Deanne had kept all these years. They were the two shows I was in in the late ‘80s when I last lived here. Talking With was the one in which I handled a 5 foot boa constrictor. Great memories and so great to have these keepsakes. I headed off to Walmart and Home Depot in search of the bulb for my lamp from Peru to no avail. I will try to find one online. Next it was off to the Colombo Lodge lower level for the Rotary UnChristmas party. I had a wonderful time, the dinner was fantastic, the company was fun, games were played and prizes were won. Bocci was so fun, our team came in third. Four of us split the prize basket for Pictionary and I sewered on the 8 to lose at pool. It is a great venue and I will keep it in mind for next year for the volunteer appreciation for FPPAS. It snowed an inch or so again and I am now tucked in watching Book Club: The Next Chapter.

January 19, 2024

I was strangely tired this morning, but I got myself together and got to the office and got a lot of work done after getting things ready to meet the Culligan man at my house late afternoon. it really is quite shocking the crud that is cycled out of my water. I took a picture this morning because it is hard to explain how grossed out I was. When he arrived though he explained to me that that just means my system is doing what it should and we are going to run it close to the Salt being empty and then he will come back and empty it completely, and do the full service, I really do appreciate that he didn’t just do it today because he said there is still enough salt in there. He didn’t want to waste it and cost me more money so I am to let them know when it gets down and he will come then. It turns out that it may take a while as I don’t use very much water. Apparently the average person uses 101.5 gallons a day and I use just over 30! That is training from growing up on a houseboat, and then living on Salt Spring Island, where water conservation was especially important, and I have just continued the same good habits. I do shower every day, but only on my saddest days are they especially long as hot water is good for mental health. I think that’s really great service that he is thinking about my desire to conserve both water and money. Once he left, I made a good dinner, which may not have been the best choice before going to bartend for the public as it was full of onions, but it was delicious. And then to Key City Theatre to once again, tend bar and enjoyed myself before coming home to puzzle and unwind.. it was a good day, even though a great deal of it was unpaid. I’m really happy with the soft launch of our new, Fisher Peak performing artist website, and was busy doing backend, work, approving posts.

Check it out if you are interested http://fisherpeakperformingartists.com I am pretty proud of it, and love as always, when the vision in my brain is applied by professionals lol.

January 18, 2024

Thankfully I woke up before my alarm was to go off as when I asked my google nest what time it was, it said it was not connected to the internet. I immediately got up and solved the problem with the tried and true method of unplugging and plugging back in. It works now but I am grateful that I woke up as I was to be at the radio station to meet Steve at 8:30. We were interviewed on 107.5 2Day Fm by Dennis Walker about the Winter Ale Series that Fisher Peak Performing Artists, Key City Theatre and Fisher Peak Brewing are putting on for the next 4 months. It must have gone well as I have had positive feedback from people all day that heard it. We will have a recording and post it tomorrow on our new website and Facebook.

It was a gorgeous morning, with sunshine and no more new snow. I went to see Mom, bring her her pills, pay her bills and catch up for a bit. I found out that the Rotary lunch where I was to be inducted was cancelled as the kitchen at the Heritage Inn had broken pipes. That was sad, but also good as I had so much to do. I worked steady and got a lot done before heading home to get changed to volunteer at Key City. They were very short of people for bar so I committed to tonight and tomorrow.

I had a nice time with the crew I was working with in spite of not being sure of the house manager. Turns out Peggy is awesome and she really supported me as I was working a bar alone. Usually it is in pairs. Just before I left she said she was happy to learn I had become a Rotarian. I didn’t realize her husband Joe is about to be our interim president. She said when she saw my name on the nomination list she told him that I would be a great part of the organization as I really put my money where my mouth is. This filled my soul. So nice to be seen and appreciated.

I noticed my special lamp that I brought back from Peru in September of 2013 was not working. I need a new bulb for the first time since then! Hope I can find the correct size.

January 17, 2024

Today was awesome. I don’t think I took on stress although it could have felt a little ‘stressy’ at times. I woke up at 6 and figured I should just get up. I puzzled a bit and had a relax before sweeping the snow out of the way to head out.

First stop of the day was the mall. It was a little bit of a white out going there, but I had to get my nails done due to miskeying at work and I wanted Disneyish ones for the trip. They had an opening at 10:15 so I took it. Ty did the initial prep work and then Minh took over. I have such a great relationship with him over these years that I just give him the colour scheme and he does the art. I am VERY happy with the results.

On the way out I stopped to admire the new February decor and then spotted the last remaining to go cup on sale at Shoppers. Of course it had to come home with me! Only 6.49 as well, win win.

I arrived at the office to find one of the employees of a client there with a homemade loaf of bread to apologize for taking so long each week to hand in her time sheets. That was sweet. I dropped it off at the kids as I am sure they will enjoy it and it won’t go to waste. The afternoon was spent with a drop in from Cowboy (Blain) who I haven’t seen in a long time. He was there to find out about renting an office for a few hours thankfully. I was dreading telling him I had no capacity. I used to be his bookkeeper but we drifted. The next drop in was my helicopter pilot client. It was nice to see him, he is as old school as it gets, and a bit racist. I just give him shit when he says dumb things. He loves me for that. Final appointment was my rancher client. He is an awesome person and it is nice to see him each yearend. I was shocked to find out about the terrible accident that his son had at work in November. He was working on the pipeline here in town and a pin blew shooting a piece of metal under 30000 psi straight into his face. Remarkably he has little surface damage and no brain damage but his whole face and jaw, teeth etc had to be put back together. He has very big guardian angels.

I brushed all the snow off my car and stopped at Safeway to pick up Moms pills and some dessert to bring to the Key City Volunteer party. I had a nice time and the entertainment was lovely, The Parsons. It was a blessing Clayton made it as he was rear ended today. Everyone is ok thankfully. I brushed off the car again and came home to shovel once more.

as I was heading to bed I received a message from a woman in Oregon who said her husband is my cousin, we share a great grandfather, my Nana’s dad. She would like to learn more and so would I about that side of the family, but I am far too tired and busy. We agreed to chat another day.

January 16, 2024

Work, yeah, that was a lot.

Brows and pits waxed, ready for California. Picked up Tracey and headed to the Founder’s dinner at Encore. I was allowed to bring a plus one and she was great company. Deanne joined us and a couple, odd and Andy. They turned out to be awesome company, owners of Oshtash, a local exterior renovation company.

The whole event was wonderful, full course meal with beer pairings. There was so much beer that I had to say no and ended up bringing one of the courses home for lunch tomorrow. The dessert was funny, as poor Doug, the chef, put it, he individually poached and processed each fruit and ended up with a middle to low class 70s dessert that tasted like it came out of a can. Dawson Rutledge from Half Spent played guitar for entertainment and he was a good soul who didn’t mind the pool players and noise.

I signed up for the ‘Friends with Benefits’ program starting April 1st as a continuity of the Founders Club and we were all welcome to take a Founder’s glass home which I am thrilled to add to my collection.

Afterward, Tracey and I took her son, Jesse, on a few errands and then came back for a nightcap of Crown to talk about our trip upcoming to Ecuador and all things to catch up. It is snowing mildly and will be interesting to see what the morning brings. Many flights are cancelled in and out of Cranbrook and I only hope every thing is back to normal by the time we leave for California on the 27th.

A funny moment today was when I went to switch everything from one jacket to another and found in my pocket, from the weekend, a key card to the hotel and a croc decoration that Emmy professed to have lost. Seems she wanted me to find the card. Such a monkey.

I traded in my jacket as it is peeling for another. The only size they had left was 3XL but it actually works to cover my butt and will be good in the jeep this summer.

January 15, 2024

I had a very long day of many payroll and filings and ate my breakfast, lunch and dinner all 10 minutes before our Google Meet Board meeting. One of our directors has Covid in the house so we decided to play safe. It was the first time using that method with this group of Directors and it went well. We got through 22 agenda items and made lots of plans. I found the whole day very full but got it all done and that makes me happy.

It is still very cold out so indoor tasks are the win. My new puzzle from Jake and Yumi should get me to the thaw….

January 14, 2024

I was rudely awoken at 2:08 am by the Hotel fire alarm sounding. The best part of all was that Emmy slept through it and it ended fairly soon. I was thinking at the time that if she woke up and it kept going, we would just pack up and leave. I was not going to stand out in the cold. When I talked to the man at the desk in the morning he said one of the roof sensors had frozen causing the false alarm. I also asked him if the hockey teams were there regularly and he said yes, them or the Cat Skiers who would have been far noisier. It is a great family hotel for sure but not if you have an early to bed light sleeper. Emmy woke me up an hour after she woke up which was pretty great. Also good that she slept until nearly 7. We went to breakfast in our jammies and I enjoyed my waffle and she, her fruit loops. I loved the great room it was in with the lovely fire going. I was only slightly unnerved by the croquet mallets in the golf bag on the hearth a la The Overlook Inn.

After eating we went for a swim again. There were a few more kids there this time, but a good time was had by all. There was a Mom I was chatting with when her young daughter asked me why I had an emoji on my shoulder. Hahaha, when I got my first tattoo, a winking happy face, I had to go get a Hallmark card to show the artist as all he had was a gaping head would happy face. Many times over the years I was asked what the significance of my happy face with a black eye was, lol. She also loved my dragonfly. Both her comments made me smile.

Em and I got out in time for a short Sauna and shower in time to pack up, dry our hair and check out. I received a call from Earth’s Own that I had been charged for an extra beverage by accident. That was pretty great service, and fortunate that I was still in town. We met Danika with Gwen and Thea at SushiWood after picking up the missing beverage. Danika treated us to a great meal. We sorted out more details about the upcoming trip. It was nice to spend time with smiling Gwen and I can’t believe Thea began to crawl yesterday at 7 months.

I stopped at the BC Liquorstore in Fernie on the way home to pick up a bottle of Amrut Fusion for $130. It shall be used for special nights. The drive home was uneventful, talked with a client on the way and enjoyed the beautiful weather. I guess Missy was perfectly happy that I was gone as she never even ran out to meet me when I got home. The cold helps. I open the door and she just sniffs the air and moves away from the door.

I relaxed and puzzled while watching NYAD. It was worth watching. Amazing what trauma can drive one to. The performances were excellent and odd to be watching something that happened clearly in my lifetime/memory.

January 13, 2024

I was awake at 9 and when I heard the temperature, I did not want to get out of bed. My home is wonderfully cozy though and the pipes didn’t freeze so it was up into a hot shower before my ABC zoom.

Had a good visit with the Hearndens, Woodmans, Madisons, and Keyes for an hour and a half or so. Funny that three trips to Ecuador and Galapagos are planned. Madisons soon, Woodmans in March and me in September. There was much discussion about the potential danger. They all wowed over the deal I got for my trip. It was nice to catch up and I look forward to seeing Craig and Lorraine when they meet me in Disneyland for a couple days. They look forward to meeting my family as well. I truly have been blessed by the friendships retained from that trip to Peru in 2013. There had been unrest before that trip too, but look at all the joy that has come from it. I am so glad I went. It is a shame that we are all taking separate trips as that would have been the perfect one for us to all go on together.

When I got ready and was leaving, I saw that there was a circle of footprints in my yard. I am going to hope it was the neighbour a couple of doors down coming to capture their Tom cat and take it back home. Easy to see its tracks coming from their house and trying to get into mine. I have actually blocked the cat door completely now though and Missy doesn’t want to go out in this cold anyway.

It was very cold to stop and fill up the tank, but the sky is so gorgeous, and except for a few Kilometer stretch, the highway was clear getting me safely to my clients in Fernie. And what a gorgeous store it is! The new manager Amber is lovely as well. I picked up a bunch of beverages while I was there for when I get home.

I met Malcolm and Emmy at Canadian Tire and after a short time there we went to the grocery store for snacks and switched Emmy and her gear into my car. We checked into the Stanford Resort at 2:30, unpacked and explored the resort. We did have a good laugh when we found the star from her nose on the bottom of my boot. She had lost it when we left the grocery store. We spent some loonies and twoonies in the game room, and enjoyed appetizers in the Tandoor Grill. Emmy is quite the little observational kid. She is so much beyond her 6 years and we had some great conversations. She was entranced by the restaurant, choosing our table based on the flowers. When it wobbled, we were pleased that the server offered us a private table and even swapped the flowers just for Emmy. She had her first Shirley Temple drink and loved it.

Back to the room we went to get into our bathing suits. Emmy had the idea that because we both had new ones I should change in the bathroom while she changed near her bed and then we would have the big reveal. She was so sweet and complimentary about mine and she was cute as a button in hers. We went and spent an hour and half in the pool and for all but 15 minutes of it we had the entire place to ourselves. We went on the water slide, had swimming games and challenges, and even went out for a hot tub in the cold. We both made the mistake of touching the metal railing and our fingers stung for a bit. I showed her how to make crazy hairdos by messing it up as it froze. She told me it was a little bit hard to tell if mine was frosty as it was already a lot white. We then rushed back in to get in the pool for a bit longer before hitting the Sauna. It wasn’t warm enough so it was back to the room for hot showers. Ms E went first and left the shower on for me to get in. She had put the plug in and turned it to full hot, the little monkey. After the showers she did say that my hair is mostly white only on top and mostly dark everywhere else. She must have decided that needed clarifying.

We got ourselves down to the restaurant just as all the hockey players and families were arriving back. That was fortunate as we got our food fairly quickly. Unfortunately mine was terrible and the server was too busy to get back to us. I just enjoyed my Amrut Fusion single malt and the good conversations with Emmy as she ate. They did not charge me and I wonder if they knew something was up as she immediately said it was a new box of Shrimp when I said they were rubbery and fishy tasting. I tried two to be sure but that was it. Fortunately we had lots of snacks back at the room.

As we were leaving the room earlier I saw Kendra, who I used to work with at the firm, coming out of the room across the hall. After swimming, as we were heading back to our room, there a Dad and two young boys walking ahead of us. The older of the two kept turning to look at us so I said Hi. He stopped and said “Emmy?”. It was their downstairs neighbour’s from before they moved to Elkford. It seems that the place is teaming with very young hockey players from Kimberley and Cranbrook. They have mostly behaved well and I can buffer the sound in the halls with the TV while Emmy sleeps but at 9:15 there was a terrible loud ruckus right outside the door. I opened it and quietly asked that they just not yell outside our door please as my 6 year old granddaughter was sleeping. The older of the bunch, maybe 10, immediately apologized and it has been reasonable since. I must remember to ask if there are teams staying in hotels when I book them.

She took her very last ADHD med today having been weaned off them. She told me that makes her happy. She fully explained to me the two different melatonin she has, one melts in her mouth to help her get to sleep and the other she swallows to help her stay asleep. She easily went to bed on time and has been asleep for nearly 3 hours now. I’d best get some sleep. We are both really looking forward to travelling now.

January 13, 2024

Tonight was so much fun that I don’t even recall the entire day. It was ridiculously cold, -31 when I woke up at 8:30 an according to Google, felt like -39 by the time I got home. My fingers were frozen just trying to open and close my metal gate when I got home. I need to make a better practice of wearing gloves.

I met the group of Rotary peeps at Fire & Oak for dinner at 5:30 and had a delicious Mushroom Risotto along with the good conversations especially with Robin and Karen at my end of the table. It was funny when Laurie and Rob showed up and were seated at the booth next to me. We had a good laugh as we had rescheduled our dinner to last night so I could attend this one tonight. I really am happy to be part of this social service group. Seems that I may have finally found my groove.

We went to the show at Key City and it was very interesting. It was very well done, especially for a community production of non-professional actors. There were several roles that I was especially entranced by including that of the very talented humans playing Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Judas and Pilate. The guy who played Pilate moved me with his rendition of “I dreamt I met a Galilean” as it is one of my two favourite songs from the show. The young woman who sang “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”, killed it. I am so honoured to know these humans in my daily even if peripherally. It was fun to see the sewing work I had done as well, including the brocade on the dresses and the scarves and gold accents around the black gowns. Ben Phillips stole the show as usual with his over the top portrayal of Herod. I was very judgy though and found it hard to just get lost in it. It is not one of my fave musicals. I find myself filling in the blanks and wondering if someone didn’t know the Biblical story, would they understand it. It was all in all a lovely evening watching old friend with new ones.